Who's the Next Door?
by bambu1101
Summary: Sequel to The Boy Next Door. Finn & Rachel live together in Mrs. Weston's apartment. One day, a young married couple moved to the next door which was once Rachel's, and next day the wife is missing. Rachel is suspicious the husband may be involved in, determined to get to the bottom in spite of Finn's opposition. Slapstick comedy-ish. M for language and mature contents. AU Finchel
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Sequel to 'The Boy Next Door,' inspired by Woody Allen's 'Manhattan Murder Mystery.' Unlike the movie, Finn and Rachel are neither in a rough patch period, nor married yet, but living together for about a year and a half in Mrs. Weston's former apartment (yes, Finn bought it). I don't think those who haven't read 'The Boy Next Door' need to read it for this story. I'm now in the middle of finishing the last two chapters of 'Maybe Someday' and a new one (one shot), but suddenly the idea popped up in my head, I can't help. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer; I do not own Glee and its characters, and any resemblance to real persons or organizations is purely coincidental.**

* * *

**Friday, November 20, 2015**

Soon as she got to the apartment from the Gershwin Theatre, Rachel let out a loud sigh. Theatrical Protective Union Number One of IATSE had decided earlier to go on a strike against the Shubert, Jujamcyn, and Nederlander theaters, which meant that all the shows had been halted, and the actors were obliged to make a U-turn to their home.

She threw herself onto the bed dramatically before rolling over on the back. She glanced at the time on the night table; it was 1:45 pm. There were still about 4 hours left for her boyfriend to be home. The Jack Russell Terrier, Rusty looked up at her from the floor, wagging his tail expectantly. She sighed.

Rachel Barbra Berry hated boredom. Other than her taking care of their dog and the British Shorthair, Ms. Bonaparte, what was she going to do until the strike was called off? She didn't know how long it would take to reach an agreement between the two parties.

Slightly pouting, she sat up and looked down at the pillow on the other side of the bed. But her eyes lightened up immediately when she shifted them from the bed to the calendar hanging on the wall.

Oh, yes!

Today was Friday, and all the schools would be closed next week, which meant that she could do whatever she wanted to with Finn all day for nine consecutive days if the strike would be going on (except the next Wednesday for participating Finn's family dinner)! It had been a long time for her to be allowed to do that since she got a part, Elphaba from _Wicked_ last year.

Rachel threw back the comforter and jumped out of the bed before rushing into one of the closets that only her clothes were put in, which caused Rusty to misunderstand her playing with him or giving him a new toy. She stopped her hands from opening the closet door and looked down at the dog.

"Sorry, Rusty." Rachel said apologetically. "Give me a half hour."

Once she resumed rummaging in the closet, her mind drifted to their potential sexual activities, _food involved_, which Finn had always been making his suit to her along with the words 'once in a life time.'

She usually dismissed his idea of anything involving food _in bed_, although he was allowed to have sex with her _and_ food in the kitchen, or the other places except for the bedroom for that matter. She didn't want to spoil her luxury Egyptian cotton sheets made in Italy. In this regard, Kurt, her boyfriend's stepbrother, was totally on her side. You could see that Finn's resistance was futile.

But, being the _awesome_ girlfriend (not her words, but his, by the way) as she was, she had secretly bought not so expensive but silky feel bed sets _and_ a waterproof pad (she had ignored Kurt's quizzical _why-do-you-need-those_ look at their shopping excursion, of course, because she was sure that he didn't want to know the exact reason).

She giggled, remembering Finn's puppy dog eyes and adorable pout when he pleaded for having sex along with food in bed, as she pulled the large box out of the back of the closet. Then she returned to the bed in order to replace the Egyptian cotton bed sets with the ones for special bed activities.

Rusty, as if he had known what she was thinking, narrowed his eyes before he walked out of the bedroom with a wry face.

* * *

"Hold the elevator!" Rachel cried out, a paper bag full of groceries in one hand, the other gripping the leash, "hold the elevator!" She called again. "Hello again, Nikolay," she greeted without looking at the doorman before rushing into the elevator.

"Thank you." Panting, Rachel appreciated without looking up. Then she finally lifted her head up to see whoever had waited for her to get in the elevator. "Hi."

"Hi, I think I see you on the same floor." The blonde girl, who looked like born with a silver spoon in her mouth and a big younger than Rachel, chirpily announced.

"Oh, so you two are the ones who have moved in 5B?" Rachel asked.

The girl nodded with a big smile. "I'm Sugar. This is," she slightly turned her head in the direction where a guy with brown hair was standing, "Biff McIntosh, my husband." Sugar turned to see Rachel again and offered a hand for her to shake.

"Rachel, living in 5A with my boyfriend Finn." Rachel managed to take her hand with the one holding the leash. "Pleased to meet you, Sugar." She shifted her hand to the guy standing behind Sugar. "And," she gestured to the dog politely sitting on the floor, "this is Rusty."

Rachel tried to summon her actress skill to suppress the urge of frowning as he didn't say a word, just nodded in a swanky manner when they shook hands, before sending his eyes back on his cell phone. The blue eyed guy named Biff, looked like the same age as Finn. He wore a dark blue preppy suit and a light blue gingham check shirt.

"—ner tonight?"

"Huh?" Rachel snapped out as Sugar continued talking in a bubbly manner. "Sorry, come again?" She stepped out of the elevator with Sugar, Biff in tow.

"Why don't you come in for a dinner tonight? With your boyfriend?" Sugar clasped her hands in front of chest with pleading eyes. "We're strangers in New York, so I'd like to get acquainted with you two over a dinner."

"Oh, um, I'd love to. Would you mind if I answer that later?" Rachel asked. "I'll text my boyfriend to ask if he has a plan for tonight."

"Not at all." Sugar answered. "I'll be in our apartment all day, so, let me know when your boyfriend replies."

Rachel nodded, out of the corner of her eyes glancing at the preppy guy who waited for his wife to finish the chat, already getting the door for her, but his eyes still glued to the cell phone.

"Okay, see you later!" With that, Sugar skipped into their apartment.

* * *

"They are," Finn took a pause as he entered their bedroom which once had been Mrs. Weston's guestroom, "uh, kinda piece of work." He sat on the edge of the bed, loosening his tie in one hand, the other unconsciously caressing the bed sheet.

"Hmm." Rachel perched herself down on the spot next to Finn, recalling the apartment which was completely different from the one she used to live.

As if neither Sugar nor Biff were willing to settle themselves there, the apartment was… minimal. They seemed like those who needed a big walk-in closet, especially Mrs. McIntosh did one which Carrie Bradshaw fantasized, the apartment could be for two persons, but not for two rich ones, as far as Rachel was concerned. The food Sugar had served was apparently catered from Jefferson Market.

"Rach? Babe? Are you listening?" Already in his old sweats with a down jacket, Finn asked as he stood in front of Rachel expectantly.

Rachel shot up her head to see her boyfriend. "Oh, I'll come, I'll come." She shook her head and hurriedly took off her heels to change into her UGG as Finn grabbed the leash and a tennis ball.

"You didn't answer my question." Finn said as he made his way over to the front door with Rusty on the leash.

"Huh?" Rachel absent-mindedly replied, slipping into her coat.

"Your chocolate ricotta cake." Finn repeated. "You said that wasn't supposed to be for a dinner with them." He pressed the button of the elevator while Rachel locked the front door. "What was that for, then?"

"Oh, right. That." Rachel he approached him and the dog, biting her lower lip, her hands wringing beside her body.

Finn arched his eyebrow. He didn't miss the pink color on Rachel's cheeks.

"That was supposed to be for you," Rachel cleared her throat, "actually, for _us_." She confided as she stepped into the elevator.

Following her into the elevator, Finn's eyes twinkled at her implication; Rachel, Sex and Food, those were the three major favorites of his world. Combining the three was icing on the cake. But immediately the stars in his eyes disappeared. "But it's gone." He said in disappointment.

"I'll make another one or your other favorite tomorrow." Rachel assured, squeezing his arm. "I already changed our bed sheets, so…" She sheepishly looked up at her boyfriend through her eyelashes.

"Speaking of the sh–" It took approximately ten seconds for Finn to get what Rachel had insinuated. "Oh. _Oh_."

"I texted you about the strike, didn't I?" Rachel began. "So, you'll have me all weekend, and next week too, I guess." She skipped to the lobby. "And I'll have a plenty of time to do the laundry!" She cried over her shoulder.

A goofy grin began invading his face, his mind already going to millions directions, which, Rusty's warning with yips in vain, caused Finn to clumsily stumble at the elevator threshold.

* * *

_THUD!_

Rachel's eyes flew open.

_THUD!_

Rachel pushed her upper body with her arms from the bed. "Finn! Wake up!" She shook the large frame beside her, trying to wake him up.

"Hmm."

"Finn! _Finn!_" Rachel whisper-shouted, yanking his arm.

Still closing his eyes, Finn's arm automatically reached her waist, "I think you're trying to kill me, but," a muffled voice leaked from the pillow as he pulled her closer to him, "I can manage to do it again, babe," he nuzzled his face into her chest. "Just give me half an hour."

_THUD!_

"No! Finn, no!" Rachel tried to tear his face off her body. "Can you hear that?" She breathed. "I heard a strange sound coming from the front door."

Finn finally tilted his head up and looked at his girlfriend with one eye. "What are you talking about? I can hear nothing."

As if Finn were a prophet, it fell utterly silent subsequent minutes.

"See?" Finn scooped the tiny body of his girlfriend, "it was just your imagination, or nightmare or something." He started kissing on her neck as he pulled her (his) T-shirt off of her head.

"I hope." Rachel murmured as she closed her eyes and tilted her head for him to access more easily. By the time her boyfriend hand slipped into her panties and his lips reached her secret spot on the back of her neck, she completely forgot the strange sounds. "Oohhhfff, _Finn_."

"I know, baby, I know." Finn whispered in her ear as he gently rubbed her clit. Then he climbed on top of her and firmly pressed his lips on hers. He deepened the kiss as his left hand caressed her perky nipple, the other still giving a gentle ministration on her wet fold.

Rachel thread her fingers through his messy hair before catching her breath from the previous passionate kiss, "Finn, I-I–"

"What do you want?" Finn asked into her mouth before he brushed his lips on hers. "Tell me what you want."

"I want your mou–"

_THUD!_

Rachel abruptly sat up when she heard the noise.

"Aw, aw, awwwww!" Finn groaned loudly, rolling over on the back, rubbing his forehead. His eyes were already watering from the pain.

"_SHHHHHH!_" Rachel hissed, "Did you hear?" Not aware the throbbing foreheads of her boyfriend _and_ her own, she cupped her ear with one hand, the forefinger of the other onto her lips. "Go look at the front door." She whispered, pushing Finn's body out of the bed, before picking her T-shirt up from the floor.

Finn sighed, his hand still on his forehead, as he slowly got out of the bed.

"Hurry, Finn, go see where the noise's coming from." Rachel bossed, shooshing with a waving hand, clutching the T-shirt around her chest with the other hand.

Plumping his shoulders down with a slight pout, Finn walked over towards the front door with his bare feet.

Finn looked outside of their apartment through the peephole, only to find… nothing. He turned his head around as he heard the footsteps of Rachel's bare feet. "Nothing's there, Rach."

"Really? I heard the thud sounds four times." Rachel insisted with a frown.

"Maybe Mr. Figgins of the upstairs was rearranging his furniture or something?" Finn shrugged.

"It's almost 4 am, Finn."

"Yeah, but, he sometimes vacuums early in the morning." Finn started making his way to the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Rachel followed him.

"I need an ice pack. You need one too." Finn gestured to her forehead.

"Oh." Her hand flew to her forehead, "aww." She finally realized a bump on her forehead. She could see one on his forehead too. "I'm sorry." She murmured, her eyes casting down with embarrassment.

"It's alright," Finn assured as he pressed his lips to her temple, "only if you make _two_ more cakes with whipped cream." He grinned at his girlfriend as he opened the fridge.

Rachel giggled. "I can handle that."

Finn passed an ice pack to Rachel. "Now, time for bed."

* * *

**Please review :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you for reading my story and the responses!**

**FYI: This is not a detective story because I totally did and will break its writing laws; Knox's Ten Commandments and Twenty rules for writing detective stories by S. S. Van Dine. In that respect, W. Allen's 'Manhattan Murder Mystery' isn't a mystery fiction, either (well, I believe that the movie should be classified into comedy, even if Mr. Allen didn't break the detective story's writing law—I discovered the other day that one of the DVD stores nearby my apartment displayed the movie on the detective story shelf. What?).**

**Disclaimer; I do not own Glee and its characters, and any resemblance to real persons or organizations is purely coincidental.**

* * *

**Saturday, November 21, 2015**

When Rachel was eyeing right and left, to walk across a street with Rusty on a leash, chirpy voice stopped her from behind. She spun around. The voice came from the person she had predicted.

"Good morning, Sugar."

"Where are you going?" the young housewife asked, her face half hidden by her sunglasses.

Like the previous night, Sugar was wearing Chanel. This time was not a vintage tweed pink jacket, but a gray sweats jumpsuit, a big pink logo emphasizing its brand name on her right chest. Stepping out of the apartment building, she ran up to Rachel.

"To the dog park," Rachel informed sweetly. "And you?"

The one thing Rachel had learned over the dinner at the previous night was Sugar was talkative. One master of '_nobody speaks until I finish_.' Way more than Rachel would be.

In addition, the dinner conversation had been mostly about her haute couture wardrobe. Rachel should have called Kurt to join. If she would know a subject Sugar would bring up.

And she was now going on and on as to how important her every morning jog and going to the gym regularly were for her to keep her body fitted, especially since she had a sweet tooth.

"Oh, and my husband loved your cake, so you can come over to share your recipe this afternoon. You said you're going to bake Caramel Apple Brownies, right? Text me the ingredients you need later, and I'll get them for both of us. But don't forget your utensils with you, 'cause I have none! Bye!"

"I–"

Rachel was about to politely decline, but the bubbly blonde in Chanel already turned the corner, disappearing out of her sight.

Rachel sighed. Finn was going to bowl with his friends this afternoon, and she was willing to tag along with him.

Well, she couldn't have come with her boyfriend to begin with, if the strike hadn't been conducted. So, it wasn't big of a deal for both of them, as long as she and a cake with whipped cream waited for him to get home, right? Besides, she must socialize with her neighbors to know well about them.

Rachel shrugged and began to cross a street.

* * *

"You don't come?" secretly relieved, casually asked Finn, only in a towel around his waist, as he emerged out of the bathroom.

Don't get him wrong. He wanted to spend time with his girlfriend as much as he could. He just didn't want to postpone his plan any more. Hence, he needed Mike. Out of Rachel's eyeshot.

Other than Puck and Matt, his only married friend was Mike, the only one to get him through this. Because.

Matt had moved to Cincinnati a year before.

Puck? He was on the brink of divorce (no doubt that the Mohawk made a federal case out of it though). Didn't want a jinx.

Sam? The guy who had been laughed off by his high school sweetheart attempting to give her a promise ring? No way.

Artie? He had just found out getting an STD. Uh-uh.

Kurt? Hell no. He was one of Rachel's best friends now. He couldn't keep his mouth shut. Neither did Blaine.

So, he had no other options.

Mike had been busy with his restaurant and his pregnant wife. He finally spared his schedule to join the guys' biweekly bowling. If Finn missed out on having a tête-à-tête with Mike this afternoon, his plan would be pushed back further.

"Too bad," Finn lied, wishing he sounded plausible. He grabbed his cell phone from the night table to text Mike.

"It is," Rachel responded as she put away Rusty's dog park kit into the closet. "Where do you think she keeps her clothes in the apartment?"

"Huh?" Finn shot his head up from his phone.

"Sugar. Her clothes. She probably has another apartment reserved only for her clothes and fetches them from there at night," Rachel perched herself on the edge of the bed, observing the bare back of her boyfriend. "That would be the sound I heard last night," she concluded, nodding to herself

"Rachel, no sounds were heard. Rusty'd notice before you," Finn pointed out, placing his phone on the chest of drawers, before pulling out his boxers and a pair of jeans from it.

Rachel tilted her head to one side.

Hmm. He had a point.

Wait.

No, he didn't have a point.

"Rusty gets used to the vacuum noise Mr. Figgins makes," Rachel countered. "Did you see his sleeping posture last night? On his back, Finn. He must have been worn out from his night exercise. Might well be out like a light."

"Maybe," Finn shrugged as he put his boxers on before turning around to face his girlfriend. He arched his eyebrow as he saw her licking her lips. "Like what you see?"

Instead of giving him her response, Rachel crawled backwards on the bed with her arms before lifting her skirt up, racing her own thigh with her fingertips. "Like what _you_ see?"

Grinning, Finn slowly climbed onto the bed and caged her tiny frame on all fours on top of her. "No whipped cream?"

"Save it for later," Rahel giggled before racing her fingers along his waistband. "How much time do you have left?"

Finn smirked, leaning down his face to her, whispering in her ear.

"A round or two."

* * *

At 1 pm on the dot, Rachel knocked on Mr. and Mrs. McIntosh's door, holding a carbon box filled with her utensils in one arm. However, nobody seemed to answer the door.

Rachel pressed her ear against the door. She frowned. There was only silence.

Three more tries later, the door was finally answered. Not by Sugar, but by Biff. He frowned as he found Rachel standing behind the door. The guy looked like cranky as if Rachel forced him out of the bed. He was still in his PJ.

Rachel cleared her throat, summoning her best stage smile nonetheless. "Hi, Sugar asked me to come over at 1 pm."

"You must be wrong," Biff bluntly stated. "She's gone out. Expected to come home by the time for dinner, though." He informed petulantly.

"Are you sure?" Rachel arched her eyebrow. "She didn't say that when I saw her this morning," she started reciting the conversation with Sugar in the morning, showing the content of the box to Biff.

"But she's not here," Biff dismissed her off, rubbing his face tiredly.

"Okay," Rachel sighed, her voice deflated. "I'll be trying to reach her, but tell her to drop in at my apartment when she comes back."

"Sure," as soon as Biff threw his last word at Rachel, he shut his door in front of her face before she could say goodbye or see you later.

How rude!

Rachel huffed before turning on her heel towards her apartment.

* * *

Still annoyed at the attitude Biff had given to her, Rachel started pulling the ingredients for the brownies from her grocery bag, placing them on the kitchen counter. She, however, completely calmed down by the time she began stirring coconut whipped cream—cooking and baking always calmed her nerves.

When she pulled the Pyrex dish out of the oven and put it on the wire rack to let it cool, her cell phone buzzed. It was from Kurt.

Rachel and Kurt had gotten on so well since they first met. He was her boyfriend's stepbrother, his boyfriend was her former costar, after all. And they had a lot of common, especially in love for Broadway.

**Code Yellow; Can I come over? – KEH**

Code yellow? Rachel frowned as she texted Kurt back.

**Sure. Do you want me to call the other girls? – Rachel***

Kurt immediately sent a reply.

**Sam brought Mercedes to Kentucky with him this weekend. Quinn and Puck had a huge fight and she stays in her parents' house with her kids in New Haven. Satan and Brit, well, I have no idea where they are. And Tina is pregnant. – KEH**

Hmm, which meant that he didn't want her to call the other girls, or he had attempted to reach them already.

**Okay then, see you later. – Rachel***

Wondering what was wrong with him, Rachel placed her cell phone on the kitchen counter before she resumed (Finn's) coconut whipped cream.

Approximately 20 minutes later, slightly puffy eyes Kurt Hummel arrived at her apartment.

"What's wrong?" Rachel asked as soon as she answered the door. "What happened?"

Having deliberately placed his Gucci luggage by the coat rack in the entryway, Kurt mutely made a beeline for the sofa in the living room before plumping himself down into it. Rachel followed him.

Then he let out a dramatic sigh and looked up at Rachel, who was standing beside him with a worried look. "I need alcohol. I'm getting bottles of wine," he sprang to his feet to make his way over towards the pantry.

He, however, abruptly stopped when he passed by the kitchen. "No. I need this," he grabbed the Pyrex dish and the mixing bowl filled with coconut whipped cream.

"Oh, okay," confused with Kurt's demeanor, Rachel just nodded as she took the cutlery, paper napkins, and a small plate out of the cupboard, without thinking that Finn might be disappointed.

"Kurt, talk to me," Rachel said as he started devouring a piece of Caramel Apple Brownies."What happened?" Rachel examined his face, sitting on the sofa beside him.

Yet, Kurt was still mute, already reaching his second piece, splaying a big heap of whipped cream on it.

After his fifth piece, Kurt finally opened his mouth. "He cheated on me," he murmured.

"W-what?" Rachel gasped. "You mean, Blaine?"

"Of course. Who else would be?" Kurt rolled his eyes.

"But, with whom? H-how did it happen?" Rachel couldn't believe. Kurt might have been a crush on Blaine first, but Blaine seemed so much more in love with Kurt as the time passed.

Kurt took a deep breath. "You know, my company requires that I travel a lot? When I got back from the last trip, he was so emotional and weirdly sad. So, I told him to stop pretending that there was nothing wrong," he dropped his head, the prick of tears on the corner of his eyes. "He confessed that he was with someone."

"Was it," Rachel hesitated, "um, Sebastian?" she cautiously asked. She knew that Blaine's costar from _Jersey Boys_ was aggressively coming on to him, which made Kurt jealous and furious.

"I suspected," Kurt scooped his sixth piece from the dish on his plate, "but Blaine didn't identify the guy he'd cheated with," he put another heap of whipped cream from the bowl on it.

"He was making excuses, like, he was lonely, he needed me around, it was just a hookup," he took a big bite before swallowing it thickly and turning his head to face Rachel. "Can you believe that?" he tried to hold back his tears. "He didn't think that I'd been lonely too. He didn't think that I'd had temptations. But I didn't act on it because I knew what it meant!"

"Oh, Kurt," Rachel placed her hand on his arm before squeezing it. "I'm so sorry."

"So am I," Kurt wiped underneath his eyes with his thumb deliberately before resuming his Caramel Apple Brownies.

* * *

"So?" Mike asked, perched himself across the table in a coffee shop, "what did you need to know?"

Finn and Mike managed to knock off the bowling early; they lied to the other guys, saying that Mike had to get back to work and Finn to prepare for the parent/teacher conference, ignoring Puck's skeptical eyes.

"Uh, I'm," Finn shifted on the chair nervously, "I'm going to propose to Rachel."

"Dude, congratulations!" Mike fist-bumped Finn. "And?"

"I have absolutely no idea how to propose to her," Finn rubbed the back of his neck. "So, I was thinking that you could tell me yours."

Mike nodded thoughtfully and started telling his process and proposal to Tina.

Those, however, were not so useful to Finn. For one, Mike could have a private dinner in the back kitchen of his restaurant. For another, the engagement ring he had given her was an heirloom from his family.

"Have you thought that you would ask her fathers' permission?" Mike asked after his engagement story.

Finn groaned. It was not that he had never thought about it. Actually, he was going to secretly fly to Dayton next Saturday while Rachel was on stage for a matinee _and_ a regular performance at night. Not only that, he was going to shape his plan during the Thanksgiving holidays, purchasing an engagement ring included, by the next Sunday. However, the strike happened.

Finn let out a sigh. "Actually, I have. But, you know, the strike." he rubbed his face.

"I don't think you have to be worried about that department," Mike tried to cheer him up.

"Which one?" Finn asked with a quizzical look at the restaurant owner/executive chef.

"Her farthers' permission," Mike responded before giving him a full account of _Rachel Inter-course-vention_; to be or not to be.

Finn knew all too well about _Rachel Inter-course-vention_. He remembered she had told him as to how embarrassed she had felt after their reconciliation. He, however, didn't remember that she had told about the details of her fathers' comments.

"Wait," Finn stopped himself from chuckling, "Hiram might have given me his permission, but Leroy didn't." He gave a look to Mike. Besides, that had been long before all the things came out.

He knew that the Berrys were very open minded when it came to sex and relationships, and had much understanding of the Brody incident. That, however, didn't mean he had their blessing. Or did it?

"I think you should focus on an engagement ring," Mike pressed. "Why don't you just ask Kurt to help you out?"

"No way, uh-uh," Finn shook his head. "He can't keep his mouth shut. I'm not gonna ask him. Ever." He declared stubbornly. "Maybe I'll be asking my female colleagues at the parent/teacher conference."

"Well, good luck, anyway."

* * *

"I'm home!"

Finn called out from the front door as he threw his key into the bowl on the console table in the entryway. Then he was about to hang his coat on the clothes rack…

Something beside the rack stopped his hand.

A suitcase.

The familiar one.

"Rach? Babe? Why's K–"

Finn ceased from speaking as he entered the living room. His girlfriend and stepbrother passed out on the sofa, three bottles of wine on the coffee table. What the hell had been going on here while he had been out?

And, and… Oh, no.

No, no, no, no!

His Caramel Apple Brownies had gone!

His whipped cream had gone!

Finn dropped his head down at the realization that his stepbrother and girlfriend, for some reasons, had taken all the fun out of his night. He shook his head, beginning to put the bottles and dishes away from the coffee table…

Wait a second.

Rachel passed out. Which meant, as Mike had informed him, this was an excellent opportunity for him to measure her ring size; the third finger of her left hand.

On top of that, Finn had never seen his stepbrother look like this unarmed; snors came from his widely opened mouth, his hair went to million directions, his shirt got wrinkled, and, caramel sauce and some stains from red wine on his chest and on his chin!

Trying his best to suppress his chuckles, Finn pulled his cell phone out of his pocket before taking a picture of his stepbrother.

Satisfied. Finn smirked. Kurt deserved it; he had eaten his cake and whipped cream!

Then Finn suspended cleaning up and tiptoed over towards the bedroom, shooshing with his forefinger at Rusty following him.

Once getting into the bedroom, Finn started rummaging in her jewelry box before grabbing some of her rings, which he remembered that she would put on the third finger of her right hand more often than not.

Having managed to leave Rusty in the bedroom, he hurriedly, but quietly returned to the living room, taking a deep breath, approaching her sleeping posture on the sofa.

Damn.

Her left arm was folded under her chest.

Finn knelt down and nudged her arm a few times with his forefinger, trying to figure out that she would not wake up any minute. Then he slowly, and gently pulled her arm off in between her chest and his stepbrother's stomach.

Cleared the first hurdle.

Although almost stumbling backwards as Rachel turned over in her sleep, Finn narrowly was able to pull himself together before putting her rings one by one on her third finger.

The second hurdle got cleared.

And he finally found the one with flower shaped pink pearls was perfectly fitted the third finger of her left hand.

Big relieved. Cleared the third hurdle.

Now the only mission that he had left was taking the ring out of her finger…

"Hmm," Rachel's left hand flew up to her face and rubbed her eyes.

Finn froze, stopping himself from every move, even holding his breath, out of the corner of his eye, the rest of her rings on the coffee table.

Shit.

Rachel opened her eyes and studied the sight in front of her. Nevertheless, much to his relief, she didn't seem to find some ring on the third finger of her hand. "Hi, Finny," she finally figured what it was in front of her. Her smile, however, formed into a quizzical look. "Finn, why are you staring at me like that?"

"Um, uh–" all he could think about was her other rings on the coffee table. So, he spun around to grab them before she could see, oblivious to his knee down posture and the coffee table right behind his back.

"Awwwwwww!" Finn hit his lower back _hard_ on the corner of the coffee table, but managing to throw his hand onto the rings last second before falling behind on the tiny space between the coffee table and the sofa.

Now wide awake, Rachel flew up from the sofa and rubbed the back of her boyfriend, who was writhing from the pain in a fetal position. "Finn, are you okay?"

Heaving a breath out, Finn just nodded, clasping the rings in his one hand on his chest.

A few minutes later, he finally caught his breath. "I-I'm fine. I just," he panted, "was going to clean this up."

"You don't have to do that," Rachel gently caressed his cheek before standing on her feet. "I'll do that," she began putting the mess on the table away. "I'll bring you an ice pack."

Then she headed for the kitchen with the dishes and bottles of wine, wondering when she put this ring on the third finger of her left hand.

* * *

**FYI: **_**Rachel Inter-course-vention**_** is in the chapter 9 of 'The Boy Next Door,' in case that you wouldn't know.**

**Please review :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: A Happy New Year to everyone! And thank you for reading my story and the responses!**

**Disclaimer; I do not own Glee and its characters, and any resemblance to real persons or organizations is purely coincidental.**

* * *

**Sunday, November ****22, 2015**

"Finn? Kurt?"

Rachel quietly shut the front door behind her as she called out. Other than some noises from the bathroom in the guest room, which used to be the deceased Mrs. Weston's master room, no responses came. Walking into the living room, she glanced at her bedroom door, which was tightly shut. She assumed that a painkiller had finally kicked in.

She left the bag stuffed Rusty's toys for exercise on the floor beside the sofa and bent down to unclip the leash from the collar of the Jack Russell Terrier. Determined to take care of four children, she made her way to the kitchen.

Having fed Rusty and Ms. Bonaparte first, Rachel decided to check up on the guy feeling sick from a hangover and eating too much whipped cream. A couple of water bottles under her armpit, a small box of Advil in a hand, she softly knocked on the door.

"Kurt? How are you feeling?" Rachel asked, wrenching the door open, peering into the room.

Kurt hollowly emerged out of the bathroom before shifting his gaze towards the door, his face much paler than usual. "The worst is over, I guess," he said flinging himself down on the bed. "I don't want to bring whipped cream into my sight with a ten foot pole for the time being," he murmured against the pillow.

Rachel nodded approaching the bed. "I'm going to leave these here," she placed the water bottles and Advil on the night table. "Anything else? Peppermint tea? Fruits? Vegan soup?"

"Peppermint tea would be great, thanks."

Soon after she carried a pot of peppermint tea and a bowl of fruits into the guest room, Rachel picked up the dog park kit from the floor and headed for her bedroom.

His face still distorted in agony, Finn laid himself on his side on the bed.

"Finn, are you alright?" Rachel quietly asked, putting the bag on top of the chest of drawers.

Finn lifted his head up slightly to see his girlfriend.

"Do you want me to take you to the hospital?"

"No! No need to go to the hospital!" Finn buried his face into the pillow.

Seeing her boyfriend being sensitized to the word 'hospital' like a kid, Rachel tried to suppress the urge to giggle, chewing the inside of her cheeks. She knew that he hated hospitals.

"Uh," Finn cleared his throat, tilted his head up again, trying to recover from the embarrassment of his childish demeanor, "I took Advil already, so I'll be fine," He smiled forcibly. The last place he wanted to go was a hospital. That was certainly _not_ because he had a scare of needles. Though his mother used to be a nurse when he was a kid. "How's Kurt?"

"He's getting better," Rachel informed, sitting on his side of the bed. "So, what would you like to have for breakfast? I mean, brunch? You missed the dinner last night. Must be starving to death," she threaded her fingers through his hair. She loved taking care of her boyfriend; he looked like a little kid in a 27 year-old 6'3" frame. So adorable.

As for Finn, he loved being taken care of by his girlfriend. Her gentle hand felt so good and almost made him want to return to sleep, which he didn't. Because, something caught his eyes. On her lap. On the third finger of her hand.

He widened his eyes with the realization of his girlfriend still wearing the flower ring on it.

Why, oh, why was the ring still there? Why didn't she remove it from there? He needed it. He needed it for purchasing an engagement ring the next day, or the day after the next day, on the way back home from the parent/teacher conference.

"Uh, Rachel?" trying his best to not get panicked, Finn started, "what's that?" he asked, gesturing to her left hand.

"This?" Rachel lifted her left hand up in front of her face. "It's not like a new–"

"I know," Finn interrupted, "but, uh, you usually put it on another finger, I guess?" he hoped she didn't noticed he shrilled a bit.

"I might have been very drunk last night, too," Rachel giggled, recalling how far Kurt had gotten drunken. "Most of the wine directly went into Kurt's stomach, though." Then she turned to face him. "Yeah, I've worn this on my right hand, but felt uncomfortable somehow. Maybe a bit small for it, I suppose," she held her left hand up before her face again. "I don't remember how this ended up on my left hand last night, but it really fits, so," she shrugged, looking down at her boyfriend, giving him his favorite bright smile.

"That's, uh, awesome," Finn responded with a tight smile, his mind otherwise focusing on how to get it back from her finger.

"Oh," Rachel abruptly stood up from the bed and approached the chest of drawers before rummaging into Rusty's dog park kit. "I've got this on the way back home," she said, turning around, holding up a small hexagonal package between the tips of her first two fingers; the package, decorated a green colored half circle pattern both on the top and bottom, illustrated a springing tiger in the middle.

"What're you gonna do with that?"

"It's a pain reliever, Finn. Tina recommended me that you should try it on your back pain," Rachel informed, approaching his side of the bed. Then she took a little jar, which was also hexagonal, out of the package, before unscrewing the lid.

Once Rachel opened the jar, the entire room got inundated with the strong menthol and clove smell.

"Whoa," Finn scrunched his nose, coughing a little.

"It smells strong, and you may not like it, but Tina said it would really work," Rachel giggled. "Lay down on your tummy, Finn. I'm going to rub this on your back."

Sporting a skeptical look on his face, yet Finn complied nonetheless.

Having pulled up his shirt, Rachel gave a chaste kiss on his bruise before rubbing a small amount of milky white balm on it.

Despite not only did he like the strong smell, but the menthol smell stung his eyes a bit, he couldn't help it; it felt so _so_ good—the mix of the warmth of her hand and the cool sensation of the ointment. He didn't bother to stop himself from slipping a series of moans from his mouth, his blood rushing to his lower region, oblivious to his stepbrother in the same apartment.

It was, however, short lived.

"There," Rachel pulled his shirt down, her non-covered with the balm, innocently squeezing his butt as she was about to get out of the bed.

Or, it wasn't?

Finn, taking it as a sign of her willing to make out, grabbed her mischief hand. He silently pleaded with his best puppy dog eyes as she looked down at him.

"Finn," Rachel sighed, "I need to wash my hand first. See?" she showed him her greasy palm. He reluctantly let go of her arm, so she leaned down to give a peck on his cheek, her arms outstretched backward to not touch anything. "As much as I'd love to join you here, you need to rest. And you have to eat."

Soon as Rachel let out the word 'eat,' Finn's stomach conveniently betrayed the other part of his body. It glowed loudly.

He groaned in disappointment with a shelved make-out session and his own big appetite, burying his face in the pillow, cursing himself.

* * *

Kurt was still in the bed. Finn could hardly move out of the bed, not from the back pain, but with food intake (he had made short work of the Vegan Lasagna leftover _and_ five pancakes with eggs and crispy bacon).

Doing the dishes, finished. Doing the laundry, done. Cleaning up the living room _and_ the kitchen, perfectly spotless. Bathing Rusty and Mr. Bonaparte, successful. Rachel was getting bored.

She plumped herself down on the sofa. Rusty jumped in beside her, Ms. Bonaparte climbed on her lap. Idly stroking the cat's fluffy hair, she turned on the TV, thinking how to entertain herself; watch a DVD of some musical movie or channel-surf until finding a program she would take an interest in.

She finally decided to watch a DVD, scooping the cat up to move from her lap, as she heard a click sound and light footsteps from the guest room. She whirled around on the sofa. "Hey, Kurt. Do you want to watch a movie with me?"

"_Hello, Dolly!_?" Kurt requested, entering the living room and seated in the armchair. Ms. Bonaparte decided to rest on his lap.

"Sure," Rachel walked over to the rack and pulled the DVD out of it before turning around to see her friend still recovering from a hangover. "Are you hungry? Need something during the movie?" she asked.

"I would much appreciate having some crackers," Kurt replied.

"I'll get them with some fruit juice," Rachel announced as she placed the DVD on the coffee table before rising to her feet. "I'll be back in a minute."

About to return to the living room with a box of crackers, two bottles of carrot and apple juice, Rachel shot up her head as she heard a familiar name mentioned on the TV.

She rushed into the living room, aggressively throwing the bottles and the box onto the coffee table before intently fixing her eyes on the TV screen, standing beside the coffee table.

"What are–"

"SHHHHHHH!" Rachel held her hand up to Kurt, not bothering to turn her head to face him, her eyes still glued to the TV.

"Rach–"

"_SHHHHHHHHHHH!_"

Kurt gave a look at the side of her face, with a huff, folding his arms across his chest, failing to understand how so important the news of some young girl a reporter was referring to was.

A few minutes later, the camera switched back to the studio as Rachel slowly turned around to deal with her gay best friend. "I might know this girl."

"You mean, the girl who has just committed suicide? Who the reporter referred to?" Kurt asked, raising his eyebrow.

Rachel nodded as she perched herself on the sofa. "I just found a young married couple had moved to the next door the day before yesterday…" she started, enlightening as to how she had found the young married couple moving to the next door, the dinner with them, and how the young wife had asked me to share a Caramel Apple Brownies recipe the previous morning.

"Is she, or should I say, was she, really a close friend of Karl Lagerfeld's?" Kurt lightened up, clasping his hands in front of his chest, as he moved to the sofa, sitting beside the brunette.

"Kurt! That's not the point!" Rachel admonished. "The thing is, the girl who committed suicide might be the Sugar that I know, you know, the next door's Sugar McIntosh!"

"But did the reporter mention that her last name was Motta? As far as I remembered?" Kurt pointed out.

Rachel didn't know her neighbor Sugar's maiden name. Sugar had never told about it at the table. In fact, she had never mentioned the details of herself other than her interest in fashion, her fabulous clothes collection, and her fitness.

"How many girls named Sugar have you gotten acquainted?" Rachel asked in answer. "Sugar is certainly not a popular name."

Kurt folded one arm, his hand of the other on his chin. "Hmm, you have a point."

"See? And despite she practically forced me to be at her apartment at 1 pm yesterday, she wasn't there." Rachel grabbed her cell phone from the coffee table, showing the screen to Kurt. "Look, I did text her 3 times yesterday, 2 in the morning, but she never texted me back. That's not all, Kurt. I asked her husband to drop in at my place, but she didn't. If she still doesn't get back home right now, she could be the person the reporter referred to," she concluded.

"But," Kurt took a pause, "judging by the information that you gave me, she's a bubbly, chatty person, right?" he asked. "And you said, she was going to go for a jog," he straightened up on the sofa, pushing his bang aside delicately, clearing his throat, looking into Rachel's eyes. "_I don't think she could've committed suicide. Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people don't commit suicide. They just don't._"

"Did you just steal the lines from _Elle Woods_?" Rachel giggled.

"Yes, yes, I did," Kurt purred, crossing his legs, "thank you very much."

"You're probably right, but nobody knows she actually did go for a jog," Rachel scrolled the screen on the phone. "Anyway, I'm going to text her again," she announced, typing furiously.

"The reporter said that her father was a very wealthy man, uh, a company's owner of piano business, or something?" Kurt reminded.

"Yeah," Rachel lifted her head up to see her friend, "so?"

"Google her," Kurt suggested, "and you could find some pictures of her." He grabbed Rachel's iPad from the coffee table before googling Sugar Motta. "Here, there are some pictures of her," he showed the screen to Rachel, "all of them might be old to identify, though."

As Kurt pointed, the pictures of Sugar Motta were too old to identify her older self. "Hmm, but this little girl looks like Sugar the neighbor that I know, except for the hair color," Rachel murmured. The young wife next door had blonde, but the little girl on the pictures had light brown, though the hair color could be changed whenever she wanted.

"Why don't you just knock on her door?" Kurt suggested.

"You know what? You're right," Rachel nodded, "I'm going to find her whereabouts." She climbed out of the sofa before walking into the front door.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the current master bedroom, Finn cheerfully sat up on the bed, thanks to his extraordinary digestive power and the smelly ointment. Now all he needed was, well, going to the John.

He pulled the duvet off of his body, ignoring that fact that the strong menthol odor was harbored, before wandering to the bathroom.

He came to a halt, however, in front of the bathroom sink, before he could reach the toilet. He did a double take at a tiny object, which had been supposed to be belonged to his girlfriend's left hand, forgotten on the counter.

Finn grinned triumphantly.

"Yes!" Finn cried out, jumping at the place, twisting his upper body, holding his fist up high in the air, oblivious to his bruise on his back. "Fuck!" he cut his own throat. The pain returned. He squatted down.

It took a few minutes for him to compose himself. Cursing himself, he picked up the flower ring from the counter. Neglecting the thing he supposedly was going to do in the bathroom, he emerged out of the bathroom, making a beeline for the place where he usually put away his backpack for school.

When he grabbed his backpack, he stopped his hand.

Wait.

He needed something to wrap it.

He pulled some sheets of tissue and deliberately wrapped the ring with them. Still, he needed some hard, small box, to prevent the tissue paper from tearing or missing.

Finn tilted his head backward, blankly staring at the ceiling.

Oh, he had his glasses case in the backpack.

Teachers always told their kids to think outside the box. He was one of them. See? This was exactly how it was done!

Finn glanced at the door, making sure there was no sign of Rachel entering the room, before putting it in his glasses case. Then he let out a long, relieved sigh.

* * *

At the very moment Finn hugged his backpack on his chest with huge relief, Rachel stormed into the bedroom. He practically jumped a little at the place with her sudden appearance. He whirled around, clasping his backpack tighter to his chest, swallowing thickly, as his gaze followed her every move.

Much to his relief, sporting a determined look on her face, she made a beeline for one of the windows, which she could partially peek into Mr. and Mrs. McIntosh's living room. She didn't seem to notice one bit of her boyfriend's strange behavior.

No, she was the one to behave strangely. Rachel was now alternating between slightly reclining on her right side and straightening up immediately, moving like a Roly poly toy doll, a deficient one, because she was tilting her upper body only to one side.

Seeing his girlfriend's weird demeanor (had she invented a new move for her exercise?), Finn burst out laughing. "Rachel, what're you doing?"

Rachel spun around, pouting, her arm folding across her chest. "This is important, Finn, don't bother me!" she scolded. Then she turned around to resume what she had been doing.

"Rachel, what's so important? Are you exercising?" Finn asked, placing his backpack in the original spot before approaching her.

"Finn! No! You're not supposed to stand right in front of the windows right now!" Rachel hissed, yanking his arm to get him to keep away from the window.

"What? Why?" Finn frowned, looking up at his girlfriend from his crouching posture.

"He could see us." Rachel murmured, still keeping peeping in through the curtains.

"He?"

"Biff McIntosh." Rachel sighed, sitting on the floor beside him. "I told you there were no baking classes yesterday? Sugar never texted me back?" she saw her boyfriend nodding. "I texted her three times today, but still no answers. So, I went to her apartment a little while ago, and guess what?"

"No idea." Finn shrugged.

"Nobody answered the door," Rachel breathed, "but look, Biff is in the living room!" she peered through the curtains again.

"So? They might have been in the middle of something, you know, newlyweds get in on like horny teenagers," Finn reasoned.

Rachel rolled her eyes, looking down at him. "Don't you see him? Does he look like 'after sex' to you? No sex hair and he's fully clothed!" she planted herself down next to him, leaning against the chest, letting out a sigh.

"You can have sex wearing your clothes," Finn said, reaching her waist, "speaking of dry humping–"

"Finn! Kurt's in the living room." Rachel shrugged his hand off of her before staring into the space in front of her. "Sugar is nowhere to be seen from here. Where is she?" she mumbled, not aware of her boyfriend's pout.

"In the shower? The bedroom?" Still pouting, Finn leaned against the chest, wondering why his girlfriend was so obsessed with the young wife.

"Why wasn't she at her apartment yesterday? Why didn't she text me back? Why didn't he answer the door?" Rachel continued mumbling before turning her head to face Finn. "What do you think?"

"I have no idea," Finn simply answered. "I'm going to take a shower, anyway," he pushed himself up from the floor. "Oh, and the smell of the stuff you rubbed on my back has gotten all over on the bed now," he informed.

"I'll be changing the sheets, then," Rachel responded, still sitting on the floor.

Crap. Changing the sheets meant no food sex on the bed.

"I want you to rub that balm on my back after a shower, so don't you think it'd better not be changed now?" Finn casually asked.

"If you say so," Rachel answered absent-mindedly.

* * *

**A/N: I'm definitely not a PR, a spokesman nor any interested party related to the company which makes/sells the aforementioned product. I'm sure that the product has "love it or hate it" kind of smell (I kind of like the smell though, some people in my country usually say the smell's like of an old dude, or an old lady).**

**Please review :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you for reading my story and the responses!**

**Disclaimer; I do not own Glee and its characters, and any resemblance to real persons or organizations is purely coincidental.**

* * *

**Monday, November ****23, 2015**

Finn found his girlfriend desperately looking for something in the bathroom in the morning.

"Rachel?" Finn peered into the bathroom. "What're are you doing? Is there something wrong?"

Rachel stopped her hand from opening one of the cabinets, turning her head towards her boyfriend standing in the doorway. "Have you seen my ring? The flower one," she asked before resuming her quest for the ring. "It's supposed to be around here–" she mumbled bending down for the next cabinet.

Uh-uh.

Biff had finally answered the door on the evening of the previous day. He had said, however, that his wife had still gone out. The rest of the day, Rachel had been too preoccupied with Sugar's whereabouts to notice not wearing the flower ring on her any fingers.

"Uh, no?" rubbing the back of his neck, Finn answered. He tried to sound nonchalant. His eyes otherwise looked around restlessly for a moment.

Rachel pursued her lips, straightening herself up. "I should've put it on the counter when I washed my hands," she said as she looked at Finn again. "You know, right after I applied the ointment to your back."

"Have you tried in the kitchen?" Finn casually asked, walking into the bathroom before picking his toothbrush.

"High and low." Rachel answered firmly, staring at the 6'3" reflection in the mirror before folding her arms across her chest. Then her eyes shifted to the sink.

"It'll turn up later," Finn said, squeezing the toothpaste onto his toothbrush. "Even if it wouldn't, keep your hopes up. Or I'll get you a similar one as you had," he said shamelessly unlike his usual self (but her flower ring was very _very_ important for him, and for _her_ too).

"Yeah," Rachel murmured, still absorbed in some thoughts. A few moments later, she shot up her head, her eyes lightening up. "I got it," she turned to face him.

"W-what?" fidgeted, Finn stammered, his toothbrush almost falling off his mouth.

"I'll be trying to ask Biff to let me in to search for my ring," Rachel announced, clapping her hand in a chirpy manner.

"Huh?" Finn frowned before spitting out the toothpaste into the sink. "You didn't wear that ring at the dinner with them. I know you didn't because when you and Kurt were dead drunk, the ring was still–" he held his tongue.

Uh-uh.

Rachel, however, seemed to fail to notice what he was supposed to say. Far from that, she took it that her boyfriend had really paid his attention to the things that his girlfriend wore. It was obvious that her brain functions now worked in one direction and determination, because…

"Oh, Finn, that's so sweet," mistakenly Rachel cooed, her hands on her chest. "You must have been thinking about what bling you would get me for my birthday!" her hands shifted to his shoulder, pulling him down a little, she tiptoed to kiss his cheek.

"Uh, maybe," Finn heaved a sigh of relief. He resumed brushing his teeth, hoping that this could distract her from the next door too.

Of course, it didn't.

She was Rachel. Determination was her middle name.

"It's the great pretext of getting him to invite me in, isn't it?" Rachel backtracked. "I could figure something out, you know, where she is, what her maiden name is because I have a strong sense of the geography of their apartment," she grinned mischievously, doing a tiny dance.

"No, Rachel, you're not doing such a thing," Finn shook his head. "He wouldn't believe you. Even if he would, you're not supposed to snoop around in other people's apartment," he warned, unscrewing the cap of the mouthwash.

"It's not a lie that I lost my ring," Rachel said, turning to the mirror, looking at him in the mirror. "If it doesn't work, I'll be bringing a chocolate ricotta cake. Which, you should know, Sugar said her husband loved."

"Rach–"

"Don't you think something's fishy about him?" Rachel continued. "He doesn't seem to be worried about her frequent go out, you know, despite the fact that they're a newlywed. Don't you think Sugar could possibly never come home? She might be the one who committed suicide by hanging herself under the Third Avenue Bridge. I want to know what's going on with her, I need to know," she rattled.

"No, no, no, Rachel, you don't. Those are none of your business," Finn admonished, wiping his mouth with a towel. "Besides, I don't like you to be alone with him."

"Oh, I'll be fine," Rachel dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Kurt's willing to tag along with me, you know, he needs some distractions." With that, she walked out of the bathroom.

"Rachel!"

"Don't worry, Finny," ignoring her boyfriend's warning tone, Rachel beamed at him over her shoulder from the doorway. "I'll be baking one for you, too." With a wink, she skipped over to the guest room.

"Rach–"

Finn pinched the bridge of his nose, gazing up at the ceiling.

* * *

"Mrs. Penkala?" Finn called out along with a soft knock as he peered into the special education room. "Do you have a minute? I, uh," he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "kinda need your help."

A special education director, Kate Penkala, lifted her head up from some documents before her. "Sure," she said, taking her glasses off of her face, gesturing for Finn to come in. "How can I help for you?"

"Uh, may I ask where your husband bought you the engagement ring?" Finn gestured to her diamond ring alongside the wedding band on her left hand. "'Cause, I have no idea which jewelry store to choose, you know, for me to pick the right one for my girlfriend."

Finn had been googling 'engagement ring,' 'tips for buying an engagement ring,' 'diamond jeweler,' 'jewelry shop,' or 'how to propose' for weeks. During the recesses. Not in his apartment. Of course.

However, the more he spent his time in reading the tips, how-to-articles, and store reviews, from _Tiffany_ to shop guide websites like _Yelp_, the more he got confused. He honestly didn't know what to believe, how to pull off.

"Oh, are you going to ask Rachel to marry you?" the brunette in the early 30's clapped her hands excitedly. Rachel had been to school concerts and Kate knew who his girlfriend was, what she did for her living, and what she was like. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Finn chewed the inside of his cheeks, trying not to blush as he perched himself on an empty chair across from her.

"Justyn got me this from _McKinley_," Kate informed, fondly staring at her left hand. "After a lot of research for weeks, we went to _Carmel_ at first," her gaze shifted to the music teacher. "But we ended in disappointment with the sales' attitude, you know, '_we-wait-only-on-high-class-customers_' kind of attitude. So we looked in at _Jane Adams_, but they had a narrower range of choices than we had expected. _Dalton_ was not all that bad, but we didn't find the right one. Then we finally found this at _McKinley_."

Finn nodded, trying to memorize the store names. "Wait," he took a pause, "you guys went buy the engagement ring together?"

"Yeah," Kate nodded, "why not?"

"I don't know," Finn shifted on the chair. "Because I like to adhere to tradition, I think?"

"Look who's talking," Kate giggled. "You two are living together before marriage," she pointed out.

"Right," Finn blushed.

Would he better bring Rachel with him to the Diamond district and get what she would want to wear the rest of her life? Then how was he supposed to propose to her? Without a ring? Did that seem like a faux pas? Did he look like a dumb?

"But I understand. Proposing without an engagement ring is not an option. Am I right? Besides, Rachel is a type of girl who deserves an epic proposal, you know, romantic and dramatic one." Kate reasoned, understandingly nodded to herself.

"Thank you for making things harder, Mrs. Penkala," Finn groaned.

"But it's the truth, right? That's why you look like distressed."

Finn sighed. "So, Justyn proposed to you without a ring?" he asked. "How?"

"That was under peculiar circumstances," Kate started. "Do you remember there was a suicide attack in the international arrival lobby at Domodedovo International Airport? Almost five years ago?"

"Uh, I suppose."

"Justyn got injured by the bombing, although he was very fortunate enough to escape with a minor injury," Kate said calmly. He husband was working at a trading company, and required to go to Russia on business more often than not since he spoke frequent Polish and Russian. "I was freaking out since I couldn't get through to him all day," she continued. "When he finally answered the phone, the first thing he said was 'Marry me.'"

Finn widened his eyes. "Wow."

"Yep," Kate nodded.

"That's a," Finn took a pause, "very touching story."

"The point is," Kate resumed helping him out, "all you need is telling how you feel about her. If it would be only two words like my hubby, I believe that it would be enough for her. Rachel is very much in love with you, Mr. Hudson. I know she is, because I've seen her eyes looking at you enough to know that," she got out of her chair before approaching him. "Don't think too much, you'll be fine however you propose to her. With or without a ring," she patted him on the shoulder. "Was my story of help?"

"Yeah, very," Finn said appreciatively. "But, uh, I would much appreciate if you'll keep me company going to some jewelry stores tomorrow after the conference," he asked. "You know, I'd like to hear a female opinion. And I'm still confused all 'engagement ring' language."

"Sure," Kate smiled before she made a face with some realization. "But you should suit up a bit more," she suggested, gesturing to his attire.

Finn looked down at his own clothes. He wore a jacket, but, no tie, no dress pants. "Oh," he didn't know there was a protocol as to how to dress himself when buying an engagement ring. He'd better google it later too. "Okay," he rubbed the back of his neck, standing up from the chair, before he walked over to the door with Mrs. Penkala.

"It's just me?" Kate stopped at the doorway, turning around to look around the empty room, "it smells IcyHot or something?" She scrunched her nose before mumbling. "When did my room get smelly like the boys' locker room…"

All Finn could do was averting his eyes from Mrs. Penkala.

* * *

"Alright, Kurt," Rachel took a deep breath, "repeat again what you're supposed to do in his apartment," she said, a whole chocolate ricotta cake on the cake carrier firmly in her hands.

"Stall him while you're in the bathroom," Kurt recited excitedly. He had gotten easily on board her _Operation Finding Sugar_. He would take anything to distract him from his heartbroken state. Besides, if he could find Sugar, he would befriend Karl Lagerfeld too, right?

"Do you know how you're going to stall him?" Rachel demanded.

"Of course, I do," Kurt huffed, feeling offended. "My father, isn't it?"

Rachel hadn't missed that Biff had arched his eyebrow, a hint of a great deal of interest reached his eyes, when she had slipped Finn's stepbrother's last name over the dinner with the young married couple. He had even asked her back, saying '_Hummel? As in a Congressman Burt Hummel?_'

Rachel nodded to Kurt in a satisfactory manner as she handed the cake carrier out to him. "Okay then, let's get started!" she announced, wrenching her door open.

Kurt quivered with excitement, stepping onto the hallway.

Having locked her apartment, Rachel tucked a pile of her hair behind her ear as she stopped in front of Mr. McIntosh's door. Then she softly knocked on his door.

No answer. The first try was always like this somehow.

Rachel and Kurt exchanged looks before she tried once more along with five firm knocks.

A moment later, casually dressed Biff answered the door. He sported a petulant look on his face (as always) as he found Rachel standing. He, however, slightly changed his expression when he heard her introducing the guy beside her with punctuation '_This is Kurt _Hummel_._' That caught him off guard.

Rachel grinned triumphantly. Taking advantage of it, she let herself inside without permission. "I brought you my chocolate ricotta cake. Why don't we talk over a cup of tea with the cake? Is Sugar here?" she cheerfully said. Kurt followed her.

"Uh, um, sure," Biff frowned, but complied nonetheless. "She isn't, she's running errands," he responded, shutting the door behind him before following the two.

"I'll make tea. Or coffee? What would you like to have?" Rachel asked as she walked into the kitchen, taking the cake carrier from Kurt.

"Uh, coffee would be great," Biff murmured, seeming a bit annoyed with Rachel.

"Why don't you get to know each other in the living room? Kurt? While I'm making coffee?" Rachel suggested, shooting a sweet but meaningful look at Kurt. Out of the corner of her eye, she witnessed Biff's expression slightly changing (again).

"That sounds fun!" Kurt clapped his hands before turning to face Biff. "Shall we?" beaming, he encouraged Biff to step away from the kitchen.

Nodding expressionlessly, Biff followed Kurt into the living room.

"So," Kurt started as he perched himself on the sofa, "I don't think Rachel's mentioned what you do, Mr. McIntosh?"

"Uh, I'm an individual investor," Biff answered, carefully sitting in the armchair across from Kurt.

In the kitchen, with her all ears pricked, Rachel looked into a cabinet after cabinet for coffee grounds or beans or soluble coffee or anything for them to drink. To her surprise, there were little in all the upper cabinets, though she found the thing she needed at hand at least.

So, after a glance in the direction where Biff was sitting, to make sure that he was not watching her, she tried the lower ones. She scrunched her nose as she saw a lot of paper containers with food scraps piled up in the trash can on the corner of the kitchen.

Rachel shook her head before continuing her mission. She, however, didn't find anything in there either.

Except for one thing.

There were a pair of worn out rubber gloves ominously lying in the back of one of the lower cabinets.

Rachel shuddered, seeing the creepy gloves. She shook her head as if it could shake her eerie feel off, before resuming preparing three cups of coffee.

Over the course of the conversation with the cake and coffee, Rachel and Kurt hadn't improved their interrogation about Biff and his wife. He was very good at making their conversation nudge out of himself and Sugar. On the contrary, he was the one to take command of the conversation; he interrogated Kurt about him and his father. Briefly but skillfully.

So, Rachel chose the moment when Kurt started giving Biff the details about his family, to explore the bathroom and their bedroom. "May I use your bathroom?" she got out of the sofa.

"Sure," Biff bluntly said.

Rachel gave a look at Kurt along with a squeeze of his shoulder before she wandered into the bathroom.

Once she quietly closed the door behind her, she glanced over the bathroom. She slowly approached the counter, and began to rummage into every one of the cabinets.

Hmm. Two toothbrushes, but no tampons, no female deodorants, no any other girly stuff. Was Sugar really living here? Was there a big fight for her to leave the house? Then she got depressed and ended up committing suicide? Well, if the Sugar on the news were the one Rachel knew.

Rachel tiptoed towards the other door. Yes, she knew that she could access the bathroom both from the entryway and the bedroom. She tried handle to the bedroom.

It was locked.

She put her hand into the pocket on her skirt with an impish grin. She had expected this. The door between the bathroom and the bedroom could be locked and unlocked from the both sides. She took two bobby pins out of it. Ooooh, she was _soooo_ excited! It made her feel like playing a role in a detective TV drama!

What she hadn't expected was, however, unlike the TV dramas, it was not easy for her to unlock the door with those bobby pins.

Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!

Rachel stomped her feet in frustration.

At the very moment, her cell phone blared wildly.

Startled, Rachel practically jumped up at the place. Her heart erratically pounded as the ringtone kept singing loudly (damn, she forgot how great and aloud the bathroom made sounds sound). She tried to mute the ringtone in a rush, pulling the phone out of her pocket. But too in hot haste, she failed to grasp her phone securely as she took it out.

Rachel juggled the phone before it completely slipped out of her hand. She attempted to catch it before it could meet the floor made of ceramic.

So she dived.

And she failed.

To catch her phone before it hit the floor.

And she too hit her ribs on the corner of the toilet.

"Awwwwwwwwwww!"

Rachel heaved a breath out, lying on the floor. Her eyes began watering, but darted at her broken phone.

"Rachel? What was that noise? Are you okay?" Kurt banged on the door from the entryway.

A few moments later, Biff unlocked the door from the bedroom before opening the other door for Kurt to come in.

Rachel could partially see the bedroom from the bathroom floor. But that was all. She couldn't move without any help of others.

_Operation Finding Sugar_ phase one officially came to naught.

* * *

"You know you deserved it," Finn admonished in a soft tone as he pulled her shirt up from behind her. "You're not supposed to sneak into other people's place."

"I know," Rachel mumbled, lying on her left side on the bed. After the bathroom incident, Rachel was taken to a hospital for X-rays. Luckily, her ribs weren't broken, just inflamed, though dull ache still bothering her. "But don't you think it's weird that there are little in the kitchen cabinets? In the bathroom, no tampons, no–"

"Rachel!"

Rachel pouted, eyeing her boyfriend, who was preparing for a small amount of the same ointment as she had applied to for him. "Ooooh," she moaned as she closed her eyes, feeling the cool sensation on her right ribs and her boyfriend's calloused hand.

Finn arched his eyebrow. "Now you can see it my way?"

"Hmm-hmm," Rachel managed to respond, "despite the smell, yes, but," she opened her eyes and glanced at Finn, "I can hardly move."

"Babe, you don't need to move, just scream," Finn gently got Rachel on her back.

"But I don't want to be boring," Rachel whined.

"You won't be boring. Ever," Finn leaned down to press his lips on hers. "Your lying down there is still hot," he whispered against her lips before deepening the kiss.

"Finn, Finny," Rachel panted as his mouth shifted to her neck.

"Hmm?" he replied against her neck before his mouth ran up to her ear, nibbling her earlobe. His greasy hand stole up to her breast.

"K, Kurt could hear us," Rachel managed to say between moans as his fingers hovered over her nipple.

"I already took care of it," Finn whispered in her ear. "I got him a pair of ear plugs, 'cause I don't know how long he will stay here," he continued the ministration with his tongue from her ear to her jaw line, his hand gently massaging her breast.

"Finn," Rachel almost lost her power to resist him. The strong menthol smell narrowly kept her from losing herself. "But you have to wash your hand first."

"Who cares?" It was not like he got used to the smell. But now? He has more important things at hand.

Much to his disappointment, Rachel had a different idea. She stopped him again.

"I do, Finn, because I don't want you to use that hand, you know, on my lady parts," Rachel said seriously. "And you might care too, since you can't use your mouth on the parts covered with the balm."

"Fine," Finn reluctantly climbed off of her and walked into the bathroom.

Having finished washing his hands, he hastily returned to the bed. "Satisfied?" he asked with an arched eyebrow, climbing on top of her. Then he took all the fabrics Rachel wore and his off before resuming what he had been doing.

Carefully avoiding the parts covered with the balm (crap, he shouldn't have massaged her boobs with his greasy hand, he couldn't use his mouth on them), he got his tongue traveled down to the south. Then he spread her legs, kissing her inner thigh before sucking her sensitive nub, his fingers opening her wet slit.

"Oooohhh, Finny," Rachel closed her eyes, throwing her head back onto the pillow, her fingers automatically threading through his hair.

Having given her enough ministration on her pussy with his mouth and fingers, Finn sat up and positioned himself between her legs. He rubbed her slit up and down with the tip of his rock hard-on for a moment before burying himself inside her.

Rachel let out a moan along with Finn's groan. She tried to relax her upper body (especially her right ribs) to avoid her dull pain. As for Finn, he also tried to avoid her right side and her boobs covered with the ointment while rhythmically pounding himself into her.

Rachel wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him close to her face. She ran her tongue along his lower lip before nibbling it. "Faster, baby," she whimpered against his mouth as she shifted her hands to his back, stroking up and down with her fingers.

Shuddering, Finn couldn't help. He cradled her head with one hand to kiss her deeply before pushing himself up and pumping himself into her furiously.

"Oooohhh, so good, Finny, so _so_ good," closing her eyes, Rachel moaned, her swollen lips slightly parted. Her cheeks and her neck gradually turned to be tinged with rosy pink.

"Shit," Finn growled, seeing how hot his girlfriend looked, hearing how sexy she sounded, and feeling so good inside her. He gently lifted her left leg, letting it onto his shoulder, his left leg striding over her right one. Then he penetrated her as hard as he could.

"Oh God," Rachel cried out, the pain running through her ribs as she tightened her stomach muscles. Yet, him feeling so good inside her overcame the pain after all.

Finn slid his hand between them as he felt her clenching around himself. The other hand grabbed her breast, oblivious to the strong smelly stuff (he was on the verge of his own orgasm).

"Oh, oh, no, God," Rachel gasped as she writhed under her orgasm, which caused the pain shooting through her body too. "_Oh, GOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDD!_"

Rachel's scream triggered Finn's orgasm. "Oh, fuck!" he thrust a few more times until finishing his load inside her. Then he buried his face in her neck, not aware of her mixed expression, before he moved his lips down to her chest…

"UUGGGGGGGHHHHHHHP%$TGRFD$#FGHJK%L+LKY$&amp;%H%RGWZDXFUUUUUUCCCCKKKK!"

Finn jumped out of the bed and rushed into the bathroom, leaving his girlfriend with watering eyes in the bed.

Rachel managed to sit up on the bed, heaving a breath out, clutching the comforter into her chest. "Finny, are you alright?" she called out.

A few minutes later, Finn emerged out of the bathroom, breathing heavily. "I'm fine. Are you?" he asked as he saw her grimace with pain, her eyes watering.

"I'll be fine," Rachel said in a low voice. "But we should rest for the time being."

"Agreed," Finn approached the bed, picking her shirt and undergarment up from the floor, before helping her put them on and his own too. "I'm an idiot," he mumbled as he slid himself under the duvet.

"No, you're not," Rachel responded. "But a goofball. An adorable one, a sexy one," she giggled. "And I'm an idiot too if you were one."

Finn smiled at her and pressed his lips to her temple. "I love you, Rachel."

"I love you, too," Rachel replied as she lay down on her back. "Good night, Finny."

"Night, Rach."

Finn turned the light off, thinking as to how in sync they were. Even about injuries. Despite their personalities were completely opposite. He chuckled at himself. He couldn't wait for the day he would propose to her.

* * *

**Please review :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you for reading my story and the responses!**

**Disclaimer; I do not own Glee and its characters, and any resemblance to real persons or organizations is purely coincidental.**

* * *

**Tuesday, November ****24, 2015**

"Rusty, come on!" Rachel cried as she attempted to tug the leash to get him closer to her.

Since the strong menthol smell pervaded the bedroom and Finn's body, the Jack Russell Terrier had been resenting being around his male co-owner and the bedroom. Which, whether for good (to Finn) or for bad (to Rachel), led Kurt to start considering lodging at another place—Rusty chose the guest room as his kennel.

Now the dog was unwilling to be close to her too. She tried in vain to double-soap herself thoroughly. Though, unlike Rusty, Ms. Bonaparte seemed to like the smell somehow and seemed to decide that the bedroom was her forever residence.

Rachel sighed. She glanced at the well-dressed guy with desperate eyes.

"Okay, fine," Kurt took the leash from the tiny brunette. "But if he would pee on my boots," he gestured to his own middle length lace-up gray leather boots, "you'd owe me new ones. They're Alexander McQueen's for the new season."

"He won't. He's well-disciplined," Rachel huffed, her arms crossing in front of chest.

"Yeah, yeah, he didn't even blink an eye when you two screamed loudly last night," Kurt snorted, stepping aside as Rusty attempted to lick his boots.

"That was not what you think, we just–" Rachel tried to refute, her face turning red otherwise. Although they screamed for the wrong reason, she bit her tongue.

"Sure, sure," Kurt rolled his eyes. "I bet that the dog must have a huge fan of watching Maria Sharapova playing," he said sarcastically.

"Are you sure," Rachel cleared her throat, trying to change the subject, giving her best smile to the doorman who was holding the glass door for the two and the small creature, "that Carole said that I don't need to bring anything to tomorrow's Thanksgiving dinner–"

"Oh, hey, Finn," Kurt interrupted as he saw his stepbrother emerging out of the elevator. "Are you taking off for the conference now? It's still 9 am," he glanced at the time on his wrist, with the other hand tugging tightly the leash of the dog turning back outside in an attempt to stay away from his owners. "Rusty, don't!"

Finn, a bit hurt seeing his dog's attempt to run away from him (again), rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah, I have a lot to do before the conference," he lied. He just needed alone time for the last time for research on his school computer.

"You too obsessed with the school shit, Finessa." Puck called out as he stepped out of the other elevator. "You ducked out halfway through our biweekly bowling the other day by the same token," he approached the three and the dog. "Sup, Berry, Hummel," he nodded as a greeting.

Rachel frowned. "What're you talking about?" she shifter her gaze to her boyfriend. "What's he talking about, Finn?" her eyes returned to the Mohawk. "Or rather, what are you doing here anyway?" she demanded, her arm folding across her chest.

"Um, I had to run to grab some papers that I had left at school," Finn managed to gloss over.

"You dressed yourself will today, Finn. I'm impressed," chimed in Kurt, who was studying his stepbrother's attire—light gray slim fit suit in tweed, a dark charcoal sweater on a white shirt, and a midnight blue tie—up and down. "I mean, I'm impressed with myself. You know, my efforts finally paid off," he nodded approvingly. "Though I have no idea why you need to dress like that for the conference."

"I love him in that suit," Rachel stared at her boyfriend adoringly.

Puck rolled his eyes. He turned his head around as he heard a sound 'ding' from the elevator. "We came here," he gestured to the other police officers before turning to face the Hudson-Berry-Hummel trio, "for a reason," he gestured for the officers to go back to the station ahead with his two fingers.

Rachel's eyes lit up with some realization. She exchanged looks with Kurt before turning to face Puck. "You guys came here for Sugar Motta? Sugar McIntosh? I know you did! Third Avenue Bridge is under the jurisdiction of your station, isn't it? Oh, I should've been aware of it sooner! So? Sugar Motta and Mrs. McIntosh are one and the same? Tell me, tell me about everything, Noah!" she clapped her hands cheerily as she stepped forward to the police officer.

"Rachel!" Finn admonished, yanking her arm gently to keep a distance from Puck.

Rachel's face fell. "I'm sorry. It would be imprudent for me after such a tragedy."

Finn shook his head, sighing. "I gotta go. Rachel, I may be a bit late home today. Is there anything you want me to pick up for tomorrow?" he looked down at his girlfriend.

"Hmm," Rachel tilted her head to one side, "I don't think so. I'll be going to Apple Store later, so I'd take care of it myself if there would be," she responded. "What time do you think you'll be home?"

"Uh, I don't know. It depends, you know, we have some Tiger Mothers," Finn tried to sound convincing.

"Oh, okay. Then call me when you're off from the school. I should be getting a new phone by then." Rachel placed her hand on his arm with a smile.

"Of course," Finn leaned down to kiss her quickly. "Have a good day, babe," he glanced at his stepbrother and his best friend. "Bye, guys," with that, he rushed into the street.

"The fuck wrong with him? He's sneaky lately," Puck murmured, seeing off his best friend with narrowed eyes, before turning to face Rachel. "Maybe he finally leaned one or two from me," he smirked evilly.

Rachel threw a sharp glare at the Mohawk. "Look who's talking, Noah. Is that why Quinn decided to wash her hands of you, isn't it?" she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"You'd better stop stirring the lovebirds up, Puck," Kurt assisted. "How is she anyway? How are Beth and Eli? Are they coming to the Hudson-Hummel Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow?"

Puck awkwardly rubbed his Mohawk, his eyes casting down. Not that he was going to reveal the fact that he could do nothing but beg her to come back to him with eating hundreds humble pies. "They're fine. And, well, yeah, I think so," he murmured, thrusting his hands into his pockets.

Kurt arched his eyebrow. "You think, or you hope?"

"Yeah, they'll be coming," Puck confirmed.

"Good," Kurt placed his hand on the Mohawk shoulder. "Then see you guys tomorrow. Now you'll excuse us," he turned to Rachel. "Come, Rachel, Rusty." He yanked her arm and gripped the leash to get them into the elevator.

"But I'm not finished," Rachel tried to shake his hand off of her. "Noah, why are you here?" she shouted over her shoulder. "I _need_ to know why you're here!"

Rachel's voice echoed in the apartment lobby before the elevator door could block her view. Puck gave her his final smirk and got out of the building.

* * *

"Mr. Hudson?" Kate called as she approached him in the gymnasium, where was arranged the desk and chairs in four rows for the parent-teacher conference.

"Hey, Mrs. Penkala," Finn greeted as he put away his conference papers into his backpack. "You ready?"

"About that," Kate hesitated, "um, I'm sorry I don't think I can make it."

"Oh," Finn tried to not show his disappointment.

"I've got a call from my hubby," Kate started, "and his grandfather is in a critical condition. So, we have to fly to Krakau as soon as possible. I really am sorry," she placed her hand on his shoulder.

Finn nodded understandingly. "Please don't be, Mrs. Penkala. Family comes first, family matters," he firmly said. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thank you, Mr. Hudson," Kate smiled appreciatively. "If you'd like someone to keep you company, I could talk to Ms. Owen? She's the same age as Rachel, and I've seen her reading bridal magazines more often than not. I bet it would be helpful of her to you."

"I don't know," Finn rubbed his forehead, thinking the pros and cons of hiring their school nurse as his consultant for an engagement ring purchase. Penny Owen had just got a job at school three months before and he hadn't had a chance to get to know her well yet.

"I'm going to talk to her," Kate decided, seeing the music teacher falling between two stools, before heading for the nurse's office without waiting for Finn's answer.

A few minutes later, Kate came back to the gymnasium. Finn shot his head up from his cell phone to see the special education director who'd just called his name. His gaze shifted from Mrs. Penkala to Ms. Owen standing behind her. Everybody knew that she had just freshened up—her lip gloss was too glistering.

"Hi, Mr. Hudson," Penny gave him a small wave from behind Kate. "I've heard your situation from Mrs. Penkala. I'd be happy if I could be of help."

Finn rubbed the back of his neck. Having googled in the morning didn't help that much than he had expected. He still had a very hard time interpreting the engagement ring language into English. So, why not?

"I hope this doesn't cause any inconvenience to you," Finn got out of his chair, giving Ms. Owen a nervous smile.

"Oh, I'm sure it doesn't," Penny stepped forward, her hands wringing in front of her chest. "I love shopping, so it'll be fun!" she chirpily announced, clapping her hands.

"Alright, guys, I gotta go," Kate chimed in. "I hope you'll find one that you've pictured," she started walking away from them, waving her hand.

"Thank you, Mrs. Penkala," Finn said, seeing the special education director exiting from the gymnasium. "Have a smooth flight."

* * *

Finn was really starting to regret accepting the offer that Ms. Owen had given. She practically dragged him into _Tiffany_ on Fifth Avenue. Sure, she knew the engagement ring language so well. And he would be lying if he said that he wouldn't be visiting _Tiffany_ other than _McKinley_ and _Dalton_.

But honestly, Ms. Owen was… too much.

Okay, his girlfriend _occasionally_ could be intense, controlling, bossy, overdramatic (and _once in a blue moon_, you could see her much younger self—self-centered—in adult Rachel). He admitted. Even Rachel herself admitted. But his soon-to-be-fiancée always understood and carefully listened to what _he_ wanted (well, except for her recent obsessiveness with their new neighbor).

Ms. Owen didn't.

Unlike Mrs. Penkala, Ms. Owen didn't know Rachel at all. So, you would think that she would listen to what he wanted to get his girlfriend was like?

Wrong.

Ms. Owen replied to everything by telling him with a beginning '_I_ would.'

The sales on the second floor were grilling the odd couple—whenever she got a chance, Ms. Owen linked her arms around his, pressing her massive boobs to it, which let him _happen_ to see her cleavage (she wore a low cut sweater). He immediately averted his eyes away from it and tried to shake her arms off of him. He swore.

He was exhausted.

"Uh, Ms. Owen?"

"Finn, you can call me Penny, or Penelope if you like," Penny sweetly smiled up at him.

Finn nervously smiled back at her. "Uh," he cleared his throat, "I want to use the bathroom, so could you wait here for a moment?"

"Sure," Penny nodded before turning to see the glass showcase.

Once Finn closed the bathroom door, he pulled out his cell phone from the inner pocket of his jacket. He needed a pinch hitter, or someone who could bail him out. But who?

Finn scrolled the screen of the phone and stared at it for a moment before making up his mind to choose one from his address book.

"_Hello, Finn. I'm glad you called. I've been trying to reach–"_

"Are you free today?" Finn cut to the chase. "I'm at Tiffany and I'm freaking out."

"_Why are you… oh, you'll be buying an engagement ring, won't you? For Rachel?"_

"Dude, keep your voice down," Finn whisper-shouted, having restless eyes, though nobody other than himself in the bathroom. "You don't ever tell anyone about this, okay?" he said in a low, threatening tone.

"_Okay, okay. So, what can I do for you?"_

Finn briefed him on what had been going on so far. "The day's a-wasting, you know? I need to get out of here, without her. How soon can you come?" he desperately asked.

"_Uh, I think I'll get there in thirty minutes."_

"And I have a word with you," Finn changed his tones. "You know what I mean?"

"_I know."_

Finn heard a dreary sigh on the other end of the line. "Okay then, I have to go. The staff will think I'm pooping," with that, he hung up the phone.

Finn looked at himself in the mirror and did some Karate chops for pumping it up, determined to find the right one for Rachel by the end of the day and get Ms. Owen to leave. And he took a deep breath before emerging out of the bathroom.

* * *

On account of some misunderstanding between Rachel and one of the staff at the Apple Store on the Prince Street, she and Kurt was forced to travel all the way up to the one on the Fifth Avenue.

Fortunately, the store on the Fifth Avenue, unlike the one on the Prince Street, had much nicer sales to Rachel's liking. Her new iPhone was successfully transferred the SIM card and data from her broken one by the nicest staff. Satisfied, Rachel vigorously walked down the street with a big smile.

"How about we are going to look in at _Prada_?" Kurt suggested. "There are some items that I've had my eye on," he said as he let her loop her arm with his.

"Sounds good," Rachel agreed. "Do they have ties there? Maybe I'll be buying one for Finn," she contemplated. She knew that Finn wasn't a fan of tying a tie. But she loved seeing him in a suit and tie. Who didn't like men in uniform? When she had seen him in a suit and a tie this morning, she really fought back the urge to jump into him. He looked sexier than ever! She almost forgot her _Operation Finding Sugar_. Almost.

"Earth to Rachel!"

"Huh?" Rachel snapped out of her daydream as Kurt cried out.

"We're here," Kurt announced as he stopped at the entrance of _Prada_ on the Fifth Avenue. "I know what you were thinking about, Rachel," Kurt nudged her not-inflamed ribs gently. "You were thinking about Finn, weren't you? You drooled when you saw him in that suit this morning."

"I did not!" Rachel gasped as they were greeted by the doorman, who slightly narrowed his eyes at her. "But yes," her voice deflated, "I was thinking about him," she murmured.

Having decided to look around separately and meet up at the entrance in thirty minute, Kurt marched into the bag floor with a sales assistant and Rachel wandered into the men's floor.

For Kurt, however, it seemed to take more than thirty minutes to give his final answer to the sales assistant. So, Rachel informed him that she would go on ahead to a café on the West 57th Street and exited from the store with the dark green/blue glen plaid wool tie for her boyfriend.

The second she stepped outside, she inhaled and exhaled deeply (the store was so crowded!). Then she was about to turn right to go down to the W 57th St., her eyes caught something familiar. No, someone familiar. With a woman whom she had never seen. Right in front of _Tiffany_.

Rachel widened her eyes.

She never failed to discern her man from the other tall guys. Even among the crowd. Even his back view like now.

The woman, a long light brown hair in a red coat like her own, cheerfully hugged him, even kissed his cheek, and fondly wiped her lip gloss from it with her thumb. After he had seemed to hand something small and blue (she assumed that it was _Tiffany_'s shopping bag) out to the woman, she walked up away from him waving her hand with a big smile.

Rachel spun around as she felt him turning in the direction where she was standing. So she walked down the street at a trot. Once whipping round the corner, she ran towards the café she had told Kurt that she would wait for him at, ignoring the dull ache around her right ribs, and a tight knot in her chest.

_Was that why he had worn a suit today? For her? What did Noah say? Was she the reason why he cut his biweekly bowling short?_

_No no no, Rachel, you shouldn't jump to conclusions_._ He was not that kind of guy. Remember our promise?_ She told herself repeatedly. After Brody's incident (and the small one with Jesse), Finn and Rachel had promised that they would never judge prematurely without hearing the other out.

She breathed deeply and took a seat at a table by the window, gripping her paper cup tightly.

When she almost finished her tea, her cell phone buzzed.

**Got stuck in one of Tiger Moms. A few more hours to be home. Call you later. Love you. – Finn**

Rachel shut her eyes tightly, trying her best to think that he could have a reason to lie to her. She even tried to use Ujjayi breath, which her yoga instructor had taught, to release tension.

When she finally opened her eyes, she saw _her_.

Not the woman with Finn.

Sugar McIntosh.

In a cab.

That happened in a flash, but it was as if she saw some scene in a movie projected in slow motion—she took her sunglasses off of her face, and threw a glance in the direction where Rachel was sitting, peering through the cab window.

Rachel hurriedly got out of the café, though the cab had already turned the corner of the Sixth Avenue.

* * *

Like Mr. and Mrs. Penkala, Finn finally found the one at _McKinley_. It took a lot longer than he had ever imagined. But this was once in a life time thing. He didn't compromise. Pushing the thought of her simple reply _'Okay. Love you too'_ into the back of his head, he focused on the task at hand.

And he found the one; set in a platinum, thin bead-set diamond band accentuated a 3.06 carat oval brilliant cut stone striking its presentation, no side stones. It was exquisite, unique and different from the others, just like Rachel herself. He could easily imagine how sparkling it would be on the third finger of her left hand, like a star in the midnight, like a sun in the sunny day, like her smile.

Finn took the shopping bag from a sales assistant before letting out a big relieved sigh. Now all he had left was thinking how to propose to Rachel.

Blaine patted him on the back gently. "I could easily picture how her face would lighten up when you give it to her. It's really Rachel. Congrats, man," he smiled.

"Thanks," Finn sheepishly smiled back at him. "Oh man, I'm starving," he rubbed his stomach. "Wanna grab a bite? We need to talk," he gestured to a coffeehouse nearby _McKinley_.

Blaine's smile disappeared. "Yeah," he just nodded.

Soon as they sat across from each other at a table, Finn started. "Why'd you do that to him?" he asked in a harsh tone, looking at Blaine over his coffee cup.

"I-I," Blaine's eyes cast down, "don't know. I just, I felt really alone and, and, I, I know there's no excuse," he breathed. "I've been trying to reach for him, but he hasn't answered the phone. He won't talk to me," he idly traced the rim of his coffee cup.

Finn rubbed his face tiredly. "Did you love him?"

Blaine shot his head up to stare at the taller guy for a moment. "I did! I _do_! I do love him!" he raised his voice. But soon his eyes returned back to the table.

Finn let out a sigh. "To be honest, I'm mad at you too, you know. If I was in his shoes, I would be lying if I said I could forgive you right away," he sipped his coffee and took a pause. "But I've learned a lot from my past. If you wouldn't forgive someone for something, you couldn't let it go, move on from it, in a true sense," he said, recalling his worst memories in high school and his mother's words. "So, I hope Kurt would forgive you at some point. Not that I mean you two could get back together when he would," he added. "I'm his brother, so his happiness comes first."

Now Finn could see the short man contorting his face with tears and guilt.

"He needs time," Finn continued. "He'll talk to you when he wants to," he saw Blaine nodding, still his eyes glued to the table, "either way, he has to go to your apartment, you know, all his belongings are there."

A silence enveloped them for a moment. Then Blaine finally lifted his face up to look at his boyfriend's stepbother. "I really appreciate you talking to me," he got out of his chair, "I hope we stay friends, and Kurt will forgive me, whether or not it means we're over." He held his hand out to Finn and shook it appreciatively.

"Happy Thanksgiving," Finn called out to the back of Blaine.

"Thanks, you too," Blaine sadly smiled at him over his shoulder and left the coffeehouse.

* * *

When Finn got home, it was almost 7 pm. He texted Rachel with an apology before he headed for the apartment, but she just texted back simply _'Okay. Love you too,'_ again.

"Hey, where's Rachel?" Finn asked as he walked into the living room, where he found Kurt watching TV with Rusty and Ms. Bonaparte in the living room.

"She's taking a nap," Kurt responded, not bothering to look at his stepbrother. "Your dinner is in the oven."

"Uh, okay," Finn peered inside the bedroom, to find his girlfriend sleeping with a soft breath. So he made his way to the kitchen and pulled the dish from the oven. Once he grabbed a bottle of beer, a fork and paper napkin, he returned to the living room, plumping himself down on the sofa beside Kurt. "Everything going okay?" he asked, already beginning to stuff his potato fries into his mouth.

"I don't know," Kurt shifted his gaze from the TV screen to his brother. "Rachel acted strange after shopping at _Prada_," he informed.

Finn frowned. "How?"

"She barely spoke," he said as he took the rectangle gift box wrapped a ribbon printed _Prada_ logo font from the coffee table. "This is from Rachel," he handed it out to Finn.

"What's the occasion?" Finn tilted his head to one side as he wiped mouth with a napkin before taking the box from Kurt.

"Nothing special, just a gift from your girlfriend, like you buying her a bouquet on a regular basis," Kurt shrugged, his eyes returning to the TV. "She loves you in that suit and tie. That made her think it would be a good idea to get you another tie. That's it."

Finn nodded, unwrapping the box. "So, she didn't act strange when she got this?" he asked. A smile crept to his lips when he found a plaid tie in the box.

"I don't know. We were shopping in the store separately," Kurt leaned forward to take his glass of wine from the table. "When we met up at the café, she already got absent-minded," he sipped his wine before facing his brother. "You should talk to her."

After two bottles of beer, the dinner and the chat with his stepbrother, Finn slowly wrenched the bedroom door open. He approached her side of the bed and sat on the edge of it. He gently combed her hair with his fingers, wondering what made her upset today.

Having felt the additional weight on the bed and something in her hair, Rachel's eyes fluttered open. "Hi, Finny," she gave him a tight smile.

"Hi, babe," he said with a lopsided smile and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "Thank you for the tie, I love it," he still stroked her hair.

"Even you don't like tying a tie?" Rachel let out a small laugh.

"Not liking to tie a tie is because of my clumsiness, you know that," Finn amended. "I have someone to take care of it instead of me," he touched her nose with his forefinger playfully. Rachel, however, bit her lower lip for some reason which he didn't know. "Is there something wrong? What's upsetting you?" he looked into her eyes worryingly.

Rachel didn't answer for a moment. So, Finn patiently waited for her to speak up.

"I saw you," Rachel finally opened her mouth, "with someone else today," she bit her bottom lip again, trying her best not to fall tears from her eyes. Her long time forgotten insecurities were on the verge of exploding at any minute. "Are you seeing someone else?" her voice was so faint, almost inaudible. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"W-what? No!" Finn cried out, springing to his feet, looking down at her in horror. Breaking up with her? That was totally completely one-hundred-eighty-degree opposite. Not that he could tell her about his plan, yet. He knelt down in front of her. "No no no, Rachel, I'm not seeing anyone else. I won't be breaking up with you, ever."

"So who was the woman in red? At Tiffarny's?" Rachel sniffled. "Where were you when you texted me that you'd gotten stuck in the conference?"

Finn ran a hand through his hair. He didn't want to lie to her. But he had to lie to her. So, he started to tell the truth as much as possible, of course omitting the part of his engagement ring purchase from the story.

The woman whom Rachel had seen was a school nurse at his school and she had dragged him into shopping at Tiffany's since she needed a male opinion to buy a gift for her boyfriend (he didn't know she had a boyfriend though). But that was just it. And after that, he met up with Blaine to talk about Kurt.

"You should've told me to begin with," Rachel said in an accusing tone, wiping underneath her eyes with her thumb.

"I know, I'm sorry," Finn cradled her face to give her a chaste kiss. "Can you forgive me?" he caresses her cheeks and helped her wipe her tears.

Rachel nodded, but no smiles on her face yet. "But don't ever lie to me again."

"I'll give my words," Finn said, trying his best not to freak out at the thought that he would have to propose to her as soon as possible. When? How? He cleared his throat. "So, are we good?"

Much to Finn's relief, a small smile appeared around her lips. "We're good," Rachel responded.

"Aaaaand you wanna take Rusty out with me?" Finn asked.

"Only if _he_ wants us to take him out," Rachel said seriously.

Finn tipped his head back in laughter. "Yeah, right, we should be asking him then," Finn raised to his feet from the floor before holding his hand out to her. "C'mon, Rach," he nodded to the doorway.

Rachel took his hand and climbed off the bed.

By the time they walked Rusty to the dog park, her insecurities had gone. But one thing had never gone from her mind.

Sugar McIntosh.

Rachel's mischievous grin had been back.

* * *

**Please review :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you for reading my story and the responses! No, I didn't make Rachel go all crazy on Finn in the last chapter. But, maybe she will in the near future…? Not in this chapter, though. It depends on Penny Owen's craziness, which might give Rachel a run for her money. Anyway, Rachel's obsession with finding Sugar is definitely going on in this chapter too! I hope you'll enjoy the ride!**

**Disclaimer; I do not own Glee and its characters, and any resemblance to real persons or organizations is purely coincidental.**

* * *

**Wednesday, November ****25, 2015**

"Shoot!" Rachel abruptly stopped herself from walking as she cried. "I left the book in the apartment."

"What book?" Finn asked, impressed with his girlfriend's multitasking skills—she was rummaging into her red Celine luggage tote, at the same time managing to not drop her cupcake carrier, which was closely but neatly packed her lemon tarts as a palate freshener from the heavy Thanksgiving meal that they would have later.

"The vegan recipe book," Rachel responded, looking up at her boyfriend. "I promised Carole that I would bring the book with me today. She inquired of me what to buy for Burt's health the other day," she sighed. "I need to go back home to get the book," she stretched her arms out for Finn to take the cake carrier. "You guys go ahead, I'll catch up with you later."

"Mom won't mind if you make it another time," Finn said, but took the cake carrier with his empty hand nonetheless.

"Maybe. But it won't take longer than five minutes," Already walking away from the Hudson-Hummel brothers, Rachel said over her shoulder.

"So?" Kurt started, looking to see Rachel out of his sight.

"Huh?" Finn replied absent-mindedly, keeping balance not to ruin Rachel's tarts in one hand, nor to slip Ms. Bonaparte's carrier from the other hand.

"Blaine," Kurt simply said, switching his bag and the dog carrier from one hand to the other.

"Ah," Finn slightly looked down uncomfortably. "I just, uh, told him that you needed time, you know, to think."

"So I've heard," Kurt nodded, "from Rachel." He cleared his throat. "I don't like you to talk to him behind my back, to be honest, but, thank you."

"Just so you know, I'm upset, too. About what he's done to you," Finn shifted his gaze to his stepbrother. "I just want you to be happy whether or not you'll be back together with him. I'm sorry if you felt that I was obtrusive."

"No, you weren't," Kurt gave a tight smile at Finn before sighing. "I have to find a new apartment."

"You can stay in our apartment as long as you want," Finn said.

"Really?" Kurt arched his eyebrow. "Didn't you grumble that you two couldn't fornicate whenever you wanted?"

"Did I?" Finn feigned ignorance. "Then why did I get you those ear plugs?"

"They were utterly useless, Finn," Kurt rolled his eyes. "Anyway, we're almost there," he announced, gestured to the metro sign, as they passed by Madison Square Park.

Finn turned around to see if he could recognize the small figure of Rachel on the street, which he didn't. So, he placed the cat carrier down and pulled his cell phone from the back pocket of his jeans. But soon he frowned as he noticed that her phone had been turned off… or out of range?

"What?" Kurt asked, "is there something wrong?"

"She turned off her phone," Finn informed. "And I see no sign of her coming down the street," he nodded to the way they had come from. "I'm going back to see if she's okay," he was about to hold the cake carrier and the cat one out to his stepbrother.

"No no, Finn, no way. I'm not going to wait standing here alone with your pets and her tarts," Kurt hid his empty hand behind. "She'll soon be back. Until then, we'll be waiting there," he suggested, jutting his chin in the direction of a café across the subway entrance. "Text her where we are."

Having been thinking back and forth for a moment, Finn finally complied. "Okay. But if she doesn't show up in ten minutes, I'll be going to check up on her," he declared.

* * *

When Rachel turned the corner at W 23 St. and 9th Av., she saw Mr. McIntosh just about to enter the New York Sport Club with his gym bag.

"This is Moses telling me to take the chances!" Rachel told herself with excitement, doing a tiny dance at the place, oblivious to her status, which she might be one of the nominees for the best performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical in May next year. She hastened back to her apartment building.

If she remembered correctly, her last next-door neighbor, Mrs. Maggie Banks, had hidden her spare key on top of the casing of the doorjamb. Why did she know about that? Because, like she used to do for Mrs. Weston, Rachel had sometimes walked her dog, instead of her daughter, Clara.

The 5B was supposed to be Mrs. Banks' permanent nesting ground. She, however, unfortunately had to be taken to a caregiver center when her Alzheimer's disease got progressed a few weeks ago.

Anyway, if the super didn't change the keys, Rachel could use the spare to enter the apartment.

Rachel looked around the hallway as she knocked on the McIntosh's door. When nobody answered the door, she tiptoed to grab the spare from the casting, looking around the hallway once again, making sure that nobody could see her sneaking into the apartment. And she slowly tried the spare into the keyhole…

Bingo.

She let herself inside and quietly shut the door close behind.

Then she hastily made her way over to the bedroom (and this time, she didn't forget to turn off her cell phone).

She first peered into the closet; there were only a few sets of male suits and Sugar's pink Chanel tweed jacket. She rummaged into all the pockets but nothing in there. Next, she walked to the chest of drawers. Nothing interesting either.

She then tried the drawers of the night table to take a look.

She found two passports in there.

She took them out and flipped through them. One was of Sugar Applebee, along with an ID photo, which really looked like the Sugar whom Rachel knew, except for her hair color… and the color of her eyes (the Sugar whom Rachel knew had greenish eyes as far as she remembered, but this girl on the ID photo had brown). And the other was of Biff McIntosh.

So, the girl who had committed suicide was not the same Sugar whom Rachel knew? Was that just a coincidence that they had the same name and were like as two peas in a pod?

And Sugar McIntosh's maiden name was Applebee or not?

Most importantly, where was Sugar McIntosh anyway?

About to put those passports away in the drawer, Rachel noticed that there were two plane tickets beneath some documents. She ruffled the document to clearly see the tickets; open and one-way to Paris. For Mr. McIntosh and Ms. Applebee.

Rachel was too absorbed in thoughts, almost to hear some click sound coming from the front door.

She froze at the place for a moment. She drew a sharp breath, her hand flying up to her mouth.

_Move your legs, Rachel!_

She managed to return the tickets to the original position and closed the drawer quickly (and quietly) before taking her shoes off of her feet and rushing into the bathroom, hearing the footsteps approaching the bedroom.

Rachel could hear the person (she assumed that it was Biff) rummaging into the chest of drawers in the bedroom, and, and…

_Oh my God, is he coming into the bathroom?_

Rachel decided to hide herself in a bathtub, pulling the shower curtain in a rush. And she lay down on her stomach in the bathtub, praying that her loud heart beats would never reach his ears, and, and…

_Ewwwww._

The bathtub was still wet.

But this was not the time to worry about it.

She didn't know how long she had been holding her breath. She finally let out a long, deep sigh when Biff grabbed something from the bathroom cabinet and left the apartment.

Getting a big water stain on her leather tote as the form of her comeuppance, Rachel got out of Mr. McIntosh's apartment before walking barefooted to hers, her shoes in one hand, in the other her tote bag.

"Rachel!"

Startled, Rachel jumped at the unexpected call of someone's voice… well, Finn's, as she unlocked her door. Apparently she failed to hear a ding sound of the elevator. She spun around to face her boyfriend. "Hi, Finn," she said sheepishly.

"Where have you been? Why did it take so long?" Finn asked in a worried tone as he approached her. "And… why are your clothes… wet?"

Rachel yanked his arm to get him and herself inside their apartment. Having shut the door close, Rachel started. "I-I might have snuck into his apartment," she confided, looking at her boyfriend through her eyelashes.

"Huh?" Dumbfounded, Finn blinked his eyes. "W-what do you mean, you snuck into his apartment? Are you nuts?"

"Oh, come on, Finn, stop being such a fuddy-dud," Rachel suddenly turned defiant.

"A fuddy-dud?" Finn repeated, scandalized. "What are you talking about? That's a crime. You can't do that. That's, that's burglary and breaking and entering," he scolded. "What's gotten into you lately? Save a little craziness for your period or something for fuck's sake!" he raised his voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry that I'm crazy. But that's nothing to do with my menstruation!" Rachel narrowed her eyes, her arms across her chest. "Besides, It was a cinch. I took the spare and I just let myself in," she excused nonchalantly.

Finn ran a hand through his hair before letting out a sigh. "Baby, look," he said in a soft tone, placing his hands on her shoulders, "you can't do that. You can't just steal the key and then go into somebody's apartment."

"I didn't steal the key, Finn!" Rachel pouted. "I just borrowed Mrs. Banks' spare," she said plausibly. "And guess what?" her eyes lit up, "what do you think I found?"

"I don't want to know," Finn shook his head. "We gotta go. Kurt's waiting for us," he turned her around in the direction of the bedroom, encouraging her to change her clothes.

"I did a great job, you know," Rachel continued, "I don't think a private eye could have done any better than me. I put everything back where I found it, I was very careful," over her shoulder, she grinned triumphantly at Finn.

"Rach," Finn sighed. "I don't want to hear–"

"I'll be telling Kurt then," Rachel cut in in a sullen manner before heading for the bedroom.

Little did she notice was that her star shaped pendant had been slipped out of her neck and left in Mr. McIntosh's bathtub.

* * *

By the time they got to the apartment in the Upper East Side, where you could overlook the Central Park, what Rachel had found in Mr. McIntosh's apartment completely thawed out Kurt's mood (he had been kept waiting at the café with the pets and the lemon tarts for approximately 47 minutes). Finn just rolled his eyes, trying his best to not join their conversation.

"Mom, Burt," Finn yelled from the front door, "we're here!"

Carole rushed into the doorway before hugging them one by one as a greeting. "Puck's in the den with Burt. Quinn and the kids are coming in an hour. Oh, and Sam and Mercedes are coming later too," she informed.

"Are they?" Kurt arched his eyebrow. "I thought that they were going to be at Sam's parents house until tomorrow."

"Is that so?" Carole innocently asked, "Sam called us about thirty minutes ago, and he said that they wanted to see us."

"Hmm, well, the better the merrier," Kurt concluded.

"Carole," Rachel chimed in, "I got you the book as you'd requested." She handed the vegan recipe book out to her boyfriend's mother. "And those are my lemon tarts," she lifted the cake carrier from Finn's hand.

"Oh, you didn't have to bring anything," Carole took it from Rachel, "but thank you." Then she turned to face her son. "You and Rachel stay in the downstairs," she said before facing Kurt. "And you and Blaine–"

The Hudson-Hummel would always throw a Thanksgiving dinner party for two days in a row, on the fourth Wednesday and Thursday. Since Rachel become Finn's girlfriend and Blaine Kurt's, Carole arranged three bedrooms in the downstairs for Finn and Rachel, Puckerman family, one spared for an unexpected guest, and one in the upstairs for Kurt and Blaine, to stay the night.

"Uh, Carole," Kurt interrupted, "Blaine couldn't make it."

"Oh, that's a shame," Carole's face slightly fell. "I thought there was the actors' strike or something."

"Oh, there are some shows going on despite the strike, Carole," Rachel answered for Kurt, managing her quick thinking, to break the awkwardness between her best friend and his stepmother. "_Jersey Boys_ is one of them."

Carole nodded understandingly. "Well, Kurt, stay in the upstairs anyway, you know, as always," she gave a smile at her stepson.

After Finn and Rachel left their luggage in the bedroom downstairs, Finn wandered into the dining room while Rachel went upstairs to check up on Kurt.

"Mom?" Finn called out to the kitchen, "isn't this too much? For nine people and two kids," he gestured to the food on the table. "Are you expecting someone else? Other than Sam and Mer?" he asked, counting the number of the chairs.

"I might have forgotten to mention that Hiram and Leroy were coming?" Carole answered, carrying another dishes from the kitchen.

"W-what?" Fidgeted, Finn choked. "Does Rachel know that they are coming?"

"I don't think so," she giggled, placing the dishes on the vacant space on the table. "I was going to surprise her," she said, "you know, she's said that she couldn't see them until Hanukkah, or worse, New Years Eve. So, I secretly invited them."

Now Finn started thinking that Mr. Berrys joining the dinner would be good or bad for him. Sure, this was a kind of heaven-sent opportunity for him. He could ask their permission that he would propose to Rachel. But only if Rachel was out of her earshot. And one more thing that he was worried about was that her parents might act weird after he asked their permission.

Carole approached her son before slapping his hand, which was sneaking into one of the dishes. "Go play with the boys in the den, Finny. The dinner will be started only in thirty minutes."

Finn pouted, but complied nonetheless. He got out of the chair, but surreptitiously grabbing some potato fries.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rachel decided to go into the den since Kurt announced that he was going to take a shower. Burt was nowhere to be found in there. Finn was in the dining room or somewhere. She thought. So, she silently perched herself on the sofa. Next to Puck. Who was playing Xbox with his headset. And she stared at the side of his face expectantly with a mysterious smile.

A while later, Puck did a double take at her sitting next to him. "Sup," he said, making a face, not bothering to stop playing.

Rachel frowned. So, she decided to interrupt him playing, reaching her hand to take his headset off of him.

"Whoa, the fuck?" Puck tried to shake her hand off. "I would be flattered if I had Finessa's weird taste, but I'm not interested in small tits."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Quinn's are little better than mine," she snorted. "Besides, Finn loves my boobs, saying that they perfectly fit his–"

"Alright," Puck cut her off, "what do you want?" he asked petulantly, throwing his controller onto the sofa.

Undaunted, Rachel gave him a big smile, her hands neatly on her lap. "I have something to ask."

"About what?" Puck folded his arms across his chest.

"About Sugar McIntosh," Rachel said, "or Sugar Motta." She studied Puck's face for a moment. "Or, Sugar Applebee?" She saw Puck slightly arching his eyebrow. Bingo. She straightened up on the sofa, tucking a pile of her hair behind her ear. "What if I knew something about them? What if I said that I had heard the strange noise coming from the hallway of my apartment on the night before Sugar Motta committed suicide?"

However, Puck just shrugged in answer.

"Why don't you share the information?" Rachel crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Why don't you tell me the reason you came to my apartment building yesterday?" she demanded.

"And why do I have to?" Puck challenged.

"You did share the information about Mrs. Weston's case with Finn, Noah!" Rachel annoyingly accused.

"Uh, because he's one of my best friends?" Puck shrugged.

"And I'm the girlfriend of your best friend!" Rachel glared at him. "Don't you get it? I could provide valuable information?"

"Uh, no?" Puck pretended, mentally noting the three of the name Sugar that Rachel had mentioned.

"Noah!"

Finn chose to enter the den when Rachel was about to throw a tantrum. He approached his girlfriend in a rush. "Rachel, what are you doing?" he tried to tear her away from his best friend.

"He's being a jerk, Finn!" Rachel whined with an appealing look.

Puck rolled his eyes. "The chick is crazy as hell, Finessa. You'd better tame this firecracker. Or just dump her."

"Dude–"

"Like you tamed your own woman!" Rachel cut Finn off, snarling.

Finn sighed before picking his girlfriend up from behind out of the sofa, which ended up Rachel's kicking in the air. "Rachel, babe, calm down," he deposited her on the floor and turned her around to face him. "Why are you dwelling on our neighbor, hmm?" he bent down to the same eye level, rubbing her arms up and down to calm her. "Why do you care?"

"Why not?" Rachel retorted, her arms across her chest. "How come you don't?"

Finn rubbed her face tiredly. "Rach, babe–"

"Finny, Rachel, Puck, time for dinner!" Carole's announcement interrupted Finn. She peered into the den before adding to her annoucement. "Rachel, your fathers are here!"

Rachel shot up her head to see in the direction of the doorway. "Are they?"

"Hmm-hmm," Carole nodded, smiling. "I secretly invited them for you," she informed.

"Oh, Carole," Rachel rushed into her boyfriend's mother. "That's very thoughtful of you," she hugged her tightly. "Thank you, Carole," with that, she skipped into the corridor with Carole, temporarily forgotten her _Operation Finding Sugar_.

Puck slowly stood up from the sofa before walking to his best friend, who was dumbfounded at his girlfriend's abrupt mood swing. He patted Finn on the shoulder. "Are you really ready to handle with _that_ for the rest of your life?"

"Huh?" Finn turned his head to see the Mohawk. "What did you just say?"

Puck patted him again. "Welcome to entering into the last legal form of slavery," he was about to walk away from Finn to exit the den.

"But that wouldn't be bad, would it?" Finn called out to the back of the Mohawk.

"Yeah, it's not that bad," Puck smirked at him over his shoulder. "Actually, it's really good. You know, even in the middle of fights."

Grinning Finn watched his best friend emerging out of the den. But soon his expression was changed into a frown, wondering how and when the Mohawk had figured out that he was going to ask Rachel to marry him.

* * *

"I said, 'Leroy, this guy sold us the wrong lube,'" Hiram continued. "That's why the rubber is squeaking. That's why it feels so weird when we start going really fast," he explained seriously, not aware that his only child and Kurt face-palmed.

"Excuse me, Hiram," Asked Leroy, who had just returned from the bathroom, hearing the part of the conversation going on between his spouse and Burt, "what are we talking about?" he asked, taking his chair.

"We're talking cars," Burt answered for Hiram.

Puck just chuckled as his wife, Quinn, rolled her eyes, her almost two year old son on her lap, her six years and five months old daughter absorbed in eating her food (fortunately) between her parents. Finn awkwardly shifted in his chair.

"Yeah, those clowns down at Local Lube they don't know how to lube a car," Hiram still continued.

"Carole," Leroy chimed in, clearing his throat, "the turkey was divine and the house is exquisite."

"Thank you, Leroy," Carole said appreciatively. "We–" Before she could finish her sentence, the doorbell interrupted. "Oh, that must be Sam and Mercedes!" She stood up from her chair before rushing into the front door.

A few moments later, Carole showed Sam and Mercedes into the dining room. The hostess clapped her hands to get the others' attention. "Guys, they have good news!"

The people sitting in their own chair faced the couple standing beside Carole all at once.

The couple giggled as they looked at each other, nudging their arms, discussing in a low voice who would break the news to everyone.

"Cut it out, Biebster," Puck snapped, having had it as he saw the lovey-dovey couple.

The blonde guy narrowed his eyes, however his girlfriend with black weaving hair didn't seem to mind the Mohawk's attitude. She beamed, looking around the table, before holding her left hand up to get them to see the back of it. More precisely, the third finger of her left hand.

"We're engaged!"

Sam and Mercedes happily announced in unison.

All the people, other than Finn, and Puck, who took his son from Quinn, sprung to their feet and approached the couple to congratulate and study the ring on Mercedes' third finger.

Finn cursed under his breath in his chair. The time was definitely not his side. Why? Why did the Ken doll have to pick this day to announce their engagement? In front of his entire family? Right before he could propose to his girlfriend and announce the engagement to his own family (and Rachel's)? He would look like as if jumping on the bandwagon when he would actually do that!

"How about you two? Finn?" Sam insensitively asked. "Have you thought about it?"

Here it came.

And now all of them threw some expectant look at him. Dammit!

"Uh," Finn rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "I don't know, we've never talked about it, so…" he mumbled.

"What did you buy the apartment for, then?" Sam pressed as he took the chair next to him. "You should, Finn, you should," he patted the back of Finn.

Fuck! Was he holding grudge on him or something? What had he done to him? Nothing! Finn pinched the bridge of his nose, tilting his head backward.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think so," Quinn bitterly chimed in. "No offense, Finn," she turned her head to see the brunette, "but you're still young, Rachel. 23? 24 next month? I think you should enjoy your life first."

Puck let out a sigh. "Quinn, don't put a dampener on celebrations."

"I'm just stating the facts from my experiences," Quinn glared at her husband.

Kurt silently lifted Beth from the her chair and fled into the living room.

"Enough," Burt raised his voice, "we're in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner, and we've just heard the good news from Sam and Mercedes. Why don't we just sit and eat politely, appreciating your family and friends?" He turned to face Mr. and Mrs. Puckerman. "Take your fighting somewhere else."

"I apologize, sir," Puck rubbed his Mohawk nervously.

"I'm sorry, Burt," Quinn ducked her head.

"Mercedes, take your seat," Carole encouraged her. "What would you like to drink? You know what? I'll get a bottle of champagne," she declared before walking into the kitchen.

Relieved. Finn couldn't feel more grateful than ever to his parents thoughtfulness. His face, however, formed into a frown when he stole a glance at his girlfriend's expression. She seemed kind of sad? Hurt?

He let out a sigh.

He needed to ask her to marry him fast. Like making her forget tonight's mishap.

* * *

**A/N: I've really wanted to use the conversation between Hiram and Burt in the episode 3x13 'Heart,' since it's hilarious!**

**Please review :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you for reading my story and for the responses!**

**In this chapter, I am going to mention Jenny, who was, in case that there are those who have not read 'The Boy Next Door,' Finn's high school girlfriend having cheated on him with his best friend (not Puck) and caused him to be unable to trust women subsequently (she was sort of Quinn in Glee, but thousands times harpy).**

**And since this chapter is on the Thanksgiving Day, NFL Thanksgiving games are mentioned a bit as well. Actual three games on the day in 2015 are still TBA. So, I picked up Lions vs. Packers and Cowboys vs. Jets as the two of the games (and depicted Jets as a still underdog despite the fact in the real world that a new HC and GM were hired).**

**I'm under the weather now. :( I've totally forgotten how terrible you feel with a cold because it's been a while since I had it last time. It's getting colder outside these days, so take care of yourself too!**

**Disclaimer; I do not own Glee and its characters, and any resemblance to real persons or organizations is purely coincidental.**

* * *

**Thursday, November ****26, 2015**

"Finn, it's time to wake up!" Rachel shook her boyfriend's long arm back and forth. "Rusty needs to go out and exercise," she tried again.

"Hmmmmm," Finn rolled onto the other side away from her in his sleep.

Actually, he had already been awake for hours. No. He couldn't sleep at all, to be honest. Then why did he pretend to continue his slumber? Did he need to tell the reasons? Which were so obvious.

For one, he was pissed at Sam, who had totally ruined his night. For another, he also was upset about what Quinn had said to Rachel, which he believed was unnecessary. He knew that his best friend could be a jerk with bravado and sometimes felt bad for Quinn, who had to be a mother at the age 21 in college, gotten knocked up by the Mohawk. But still.

In addition to that, the married couple was having make-up sex all night in the next room to his and Rachel's (Kurt had reluctantly undertaken the task of Eli-sitting, Beth in Burt's and Carole's bedroom). Which, of course, totally killed Rachel's mood and he wasn't able to get any action. Though he wasn't going to to begin with because the Berrys were staying on the same floor.

And now he was forced to revise his plan from scratch.

"Fine," Rachel climbed off the bed as she sensed that Finn was unlikely to wake up at any minute. "I'll take him out _alone_."

Finn heard her tone changed. He generally took Rusty for a walk and exercise with Rachel in the morning when he was not on a school day. This morning, however, he shut his eyes tightly, refusing to open them or move his large body from the bed to accompany her. Mentally apologizing to her, he told himself that it would be the best for both of them, while he heard his girlfriend preparing to go-out with the dog.

A few minutes later, having heard Rachel leaving the room, Finn finally opened his eyes. He tilted his head to glance at the doorway before crawling out of the bed. Then he quietly opened the door, poking his head to look around the corridor. Rachel was nowhere to be found. She must have already been out with Rusty.

Finn quickly traveled into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face before returning to the bedroom to change into some decent clothes. He took a glance at the time on his cell phone on the night table. While he knew that it was still early for him and them to have serious conversations, he had no choice, nor time.

* * *

Finn stopped in front of the guest room. He breathed deeply before knocking on the door softly.

"Come in."

Finn wrenched the door open slowly and peered into the room.

"Finn! Good morning," greeted Hiram, standing beside the closet, already in a pair of gray slacks and a purple V-neck sweater, as he encouraged him to enter the room with a wave of his hand.

Finn slowly let himself in the room before starting. "I, uｍ, am sorry to bother you such early morning, but I–"

"I didn't know that you were interested in us," Hiram interrupted, placing his hands on his chest, looking at Finn fondly. "It is unfortunate but we have a strict rule whom to choose for three-way," he deadpanned.

"Hiram, really," Leroy admonished, stopping his hand from folding his clothes on the bed, giving a look to his significant other.

"W-what? N-no!" Finn cried, frantically waving his hands before him. "I just, I-I was just–," he choked.

"Finn, I was just kidding," Hiram chuckled, walking to the bed. "So? What did you want to talk to us?" he smiled up at Finn as he perched himself on the edge of the bed.

Finn cleared his throat, wiping his hands on his chinos. "I said that Rachel and I hadn't talked about marriage last night, but I, um, have been thinking about it for weeks, to ask her to marry me," he rubbed the back of his neck. "Actually, it was the last April that the idea of marrying her popped up in my head for the first time, on the way back home from Bronx Zoo with her," he said in one breath.

Finn felt his mouth dry, his hands more sweaty otherwise, but he went on nonetheless. "A-and, I'd like you to know that this was not because Sam and Mercedes had announced their engagement, o-nor, I'm just jumping on the bandwagon. I swear, it wasn't, because I, eh, have already gotten the ring, and, and, I would have flown to Ohio if there wasn't the strike, a-and–" he rambled.

"Get to the point, Finn," Leroy interrupted, depositing himself on the bed next to Hiram. "What's your point?"

"I, um," Finn swallowed thickly, "I was wondering if I'd have your blessing."

Hiram and Leroy exchanged looks and both turned their heads to face Finn standing in front of them.

"Of course, you have our–"

"Hiram," Leroy cut him off, placing his hand on his spouse's arm, his eyes still on Finn. "Finn, you're really a good boy, a good boyfriend to Rachel as well. But I think she's too young to get married," he said with a stern face.

Finn blinked a few times, his mouth quivering at the dismissal. Although there were always possibilities that fathers would turn down, he hadn't ever expected that he would be shut down outrightly by her fathers (one of them, to be more precise) since he got along with them so well so far, at least he thought they did.

"Quinn, is that the blonde lady's name?" Leroy continued. "She had a point there. You might reach the age to be a married man, but Rachel'll be turning 24 next month. You should know, for women, getting married at 20 to 24 years old would most likely end in divorce. Besides, you two are together only for 2 years."

"Leroy, really," this time was Hiram chiming in. He was sporting the same look as Finn was (well, Finn had paler and more horrified look than Hiram did though). "They have cohabited for almost the same amount of time, just in case that you forgot," he pointed out.

"Ah, cohabitation," Leroy nodded, as if he predicted what his husband (or Finn) would retort. "Did you know that there was the study which revealed that premarital cohabitation was associated with a higher risk of divorce, for women specifically, regardless of the couple's intention to marry when they moved in together?" Leroy reasoned, looking at his husband.

"That's," Finn cried out, "that's a load of bull! Statistics are utter bullshit!" He was too shocked to be careful with his words. He didn't know whether or not his hands' vibrating was because of his anger at the unfairness of which Leroy had brought up the stupid studies and statistics.

"A-at whatever age they marry," Finn continued, knowing that he needed some damage control (but honestly, he didn't know how), "there are always only three options; staying married, separation, and divorce," he said looking into Leroy's eyes, his hands still vibrating. "The same goes for cohabitation before marriage. Some couples bite the dust, some don't. I-I would be lying if I said that we-we'd never had a fight. I understand that you're looking out for your daughter and I respect that. But I love her, I will always love her no matter what. I can't imagine my life without her in it. I want to be the reasons she smiles and laughs everyday for the rest of my life, just like she's been to me."

Finn breathed heavily as he finished, feeling his face hot.

Leroy widened his eyes at Finn's outburst and looked at him for a moment. "Finn," he sighed, "I'm not saying that you two shouldn't get married. If you're so sure you'll always love her, why now? Her career has just taken off. Why can't you wait a little longer? Why do you rush into things?"

When Finn was about to open his mouth, Hiram cut in.

"What's your problem, Leroy?" Hiram folded his arms across his chest. "You said that he was a good boy and a good boyfriend to our daughter, didn't you? Don't you think that he is the right person for her?"

"I just want her to experience a lot of things before she gets married. That's it," Leroy said stubbornly, averting his eyes away from his spouse and soon-to-be-his-son-in-law.

Hiram let out a sigh. "Finn," he stood up from the bed and approached the shell shocked Finn, "he just doesn't want to admit that Rachel is not his baby girl anymore, even though you two are living together for a while," he shook his head as he patted Finn on the shoulder before leading him towards the doorway. "I'm going to talk some sense into him," he whispered in his ear before adding. "Don't worry, Finn, you'll have _our_ blessing before you know it," he reassured, winking at him.

All Finn could do was nod.

He stood in a stupor in front of the closed door of the guest room for a while, trying his best not to get panicked.

How was he going to win Leroy's heart over to have his blessing?

Drained, he dragged his feet on the way to his bedroom.

* * *

Rachel peered inside the bedroom after she had walked Rusty to the Central Park, only to find Finn still in bed.

She frowned as she saw his clothes and sleeping posture; he had already changed his clothes, but lying on one side of the bed in a fetal position, folding his arm across his chest, turning away from the doorway.

She knew what it meant. She had been there so many times. Something was upsetting Finn. Or he was suffering some conflict between his emotional side and rational one.

The first time Rachel had seen this Finn was after they had bumped into Jenny in the street on the way back home from the theater over a year before.

AT that time, Finn thought that he had already forgiven her and let the past between them go. He, however, got upset when they got home, mostly because not only did Jenny make an apology for what she had done to him, but also turned defiant showering insults on him _and_ Rachel, saying with a snicker that it was no wonder that beautiful girls (like her) easily lost their interests in a guy like him because he had bad taste in women.

A new anger gushed out, which made Finn think that he could never forgive her, that he could never let the past go. Which totally confused and twisted Finn's head. Him not being able to at least let it go made him doubt that he deserved Rachel.

It took a few hours for Rachel to get him to open up and all night to untie his twisted mind; he didn't have to forgive Jenny nor let the past go, it didn't mean that he loved Rachel less, Jenny was just a big bloody pathetic lair playing with people's minds, don't let her get in his head (just like he had once said to Rachel).

Rachel sighed. She climbed onto the bed and got laid down close to him. Then she placed her arm on his from behind, placing her lips on his shoulder. And they stayed like that for a while.

"Do you want to talk about what's upsetting you?" finally breaking the silence, Rachel quietly asked.

Finn, however, shook his head; there was no way in hell that he was going to tell her about _that_.

Rachel figured that it would take more time than the night after they had encountered Jenny, since she had no idea as to what was bothering him. So, she decided to change the subject. "Aren't you hungry? Your mother's making your favorite pancakes. Everyone's waiting for us upstairs."

Finn tilted his head towards her before switching his sides on the bed to pull her into his chest. "I _am_ hungry, I always am hungry, you know that."

Rachel giggled at his words, which caused his trademark lopsided smile to creep to his lips. She gently caressed his cheek before climbing off the bed and stretching her arm for him to get out of the bed. "Come on, then."

Finn took her hand in his before pushing his body up with the other arm. He, however, let go of her hand when he sat up on the bed. "Go first, I'm going to the bathroom."

"Okay," Rachel nodded with a tight smile, ignoring some uneasiness in her stomach.

When Rachel was about to exit the room, Finn called out to stop her. "Rachel?"

Rachel whirled around in the doorway and waited for him to say something patiently without a word.

"Um," Finn hesitated, running a hand through his hair. "Have you ever thought that you wanted to ex–," he cleared his throat, "I mean, that you wanted to date another guy?"

Dumbfounded, Rachel's jaw dropped open, looking at her boyfriend as if he had begun to grow horns on his head. "Where did that come from?" she asked scandalized.

"Have you?" Finn repeated, frowning at the fact that she had not answered his question.

"Of course not!" Rachel cried. "I have never thought about such a thing!" she crossed her arms in front of her chest, feeling a bit hurt. Why did he have to ask that kind of things? Didn't he trust her? Did he feel that she had not expressed her love for him enough? Or…

"Have you? That's why you asked?" Rachel gingerly asked.

"What? No!" Finn sprung to his feet before rushing to his girlfriend. "No, no, baby, no, I didn't mean that," he amended. "I just, I–," he looked up at the ceiling because he didn't come up with anything. So, he pulled her into his chest to envelop her before saying. "I love you, Rachel, no matter what," he breathed into her hair.

Confused, Rachel frowned in his arms, her hands on his chest. However, she said back to him nonetheless. "I love you too, Finny."

* * *

By the time the game between Lions and Parckers began, Finn's mood seemed uplifted. Out of the corner of her eye glancing at him sitting on the sofa with the other boys in the living room, Rachel continued bringing her theory to the girls' squad plus Kurt in the dining room.

"What do you guys think? I don't think the three Sugars are different people."

"Motta… I heard that before," Carole said under her breath, tilting her head to one side. "I don't remember where, but…" she pursued her lips tightly, absorbed in thought.

"Putting the fact that you broke the law aside, Rachel," Mercedes started in a slightly accusing tone, folding her arms across her chest, "why don't you just ask Puck about the girl who committed suicide?" she nodded in the direction where Puck and the other boys were moved between joy and despair.

"I tried!" Rachel cried, leaning further into the chair. "But he was niggling me and never provided the information!" she huffed, blowing her bangs, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Which means," Kurt chimed in, "Sugar Motta probably didn't commit suicide, the police haven't ruled out foul play." He turned his head to face Puck's wife. "Don't you think?"

"He has by no means one conversation about work at home," Quinn informed. "Except for his idiots of colleagues' _'heroic'_ episodes, him included," air-quoting rolling her eyes, she added matter-of-factly. "But the police generally have no duty of confidentiality."

"Hmm, interesting," Kurt frowned, one arm folded across his chest, the other hand rested beneath his chin. "So, they don't have any valuable information either," he concluded.

"That is, _you_ cued in him, Rachel," Mercedes said, leaning forward.

Rachel's eyes lit up. "I'm one step ahead of the police?" she clapped her hands excitedly. "I'll definitely have to continue a background check on Mr. and Mrs. McIntosh then!"

"Rachela?" Hiram called out, walking into the dining room. "I'm afraid we must be going," he announced.

"Already?" Rachel got out of the chair before approaching her fathers.

"Unfortunately," Leroy answered behind his husband.

"Oh, okay," Rachel nodded. "I'll see you off at the airport then," she said before going downstairs to grab her coat and purse.

* * *

When the Berrys finished expressing their gratitude to Burt and Carole for letting them stay overnight and saying goodbyes to everyone, Finn got out of the sofa and grabbed their luggage by the doorway.

"Could I have a minute of your time before you go?" Finn said in a low voice to not reach anyone's ear other than the Berrys. "Walk a talk?"

"I truly am sorry about this morning. I didn't mean to get worked up like that," Finn started once they stepped out of the apartment.

"No, Finn, I am the one to apologize," Leroy cut him off. "Hiram was right," he glanced at his spouse, who was trying to hail a cab at the curb. "I," he shook his head, "overreacted a bit, hearing you asking us for her hand in marriage." He sighed. "I just… She's always my little girl, you know, wearing a pink tutu, dancing around the living room."

Recalling the time when he visited the Berrys with Rachel in Lima last year and saw some pictures of her childhood, Finn automatically broke into a smile.

Leroy examined Finn's face before clearing his throat. "I know that she really loves you and your face now proves enough that you're really into her too, so, uh," he saw Rachel's red coat behind the glass door of the apartment building, "good luck with your proposal," he quickly added.

Finn's heart soared. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he hugged Leroy tightly, not aware that Rachel was approaching them.

Confused, Rachel frowned with a smile, seeing her father and boyfriend hugging as she finally caught up with the three of them. "What's going on here?" she asked.

"Nothing!" Finn answered as he abruptly tore himself away from her father.

"We just invited you two to the annual Caribbean cruise next year." Leroy promptly lied, shooting a look at Hiram, who finished placing their luggage in the cab trunk.

"I didn't know that you wanted to join them in the cruise," Rachel said, turning to see her boyfriend.

"But we'll understand that you two couldn't make it," Hiram chimed in, seeing Finn unable to think of an answer, "because, you know, you're busy with your show and it's not easy for him to take some time off at the end of the school year."

"Yeah," Rachel said, still frowning, out of the corner of her eye glancing at Finn, who was rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, shall we?" she shook her head and gestured for her fathers to get in the cab before turning to face her boyfriend again. "I'll be back in a couple of hours," she tiptoed to kiss him.

Finn nodded at his girlfriend before shaking his hand in a firm grip with the Berrys respectively. "Have a smooth flight, Sir."

"Thank you, Finn," Leroy patted him on the shoulder. "Take care of yourself and my daughter," he threw a meaningful look at him before getting into the cab.

After he Had waved a hand to them, seeing the cab driving off, Finn stood at the curb with a goofy grin for a while. Now all he had left was pick a place and a day to ask Rachel to marry him!

* * *

When Rachel got back to the Hudson-Hummel apartment, the boys and Burt were completely engrossed in the game of Cowboys versus Jets on the TV while the girls and Carole were preparing the dinner for all of them. So, she decided to help Carole, wandering through the dining room towards the kitchen. Until something caught her eyes.

Rachel came to a halt at the corner of the table, to pick up a thing which was buzzing and flashing vertiginously.

"Finn," Rachel called out from the dining room. "Your phone has been ringing off the hook."

Finn, however, didn't seem to notice that she had spoken to him since the game was coming to the climax in the third quarter. So, Rachel walked back to the living room and called his name again. "Finn?"

"Hmm?" he answered absent-mindedly, his eyes glued to the TV.

"Fuck off, Berry," Puck shushed. "Dammit!" he cried as Todd Bowles' blitzing scheme had just failed _again_. "Bowles is a one-trick pony! Blitz doesn't work out. We don't have a good secondary!" he yelled at the TV screen.

"We?" Sam chuckled, "when did you become their HC?"

"Fuck you, Kentucky boy. I've been a hard-core gang green ever since I can remember," Puck threw some popcorns at the blonde guy.

"Finn?" Rachel tried again. "Your phone is ringing."

"Hmm," Finn's eyes still were fixated on the TV. "Can you answer the phone for me?" he said without turning to look at his girlfriend before he jumped out of the sofa when Dexter McDonald miraculously succeeded an intercept. He shared hi-fives with Puck and Burt.

Rachel rolled her eyes as she answered the phone instead of Finn, returning back to the dining room. "Hello? Finn Hudson's phone, Rachel's speaking."

"_Who?"_

"Huh?" Rachel looked at the screen of the phone with a frown, "uh, Rachel."

"_May I speak to Finny?"_

_Finny?_ Who the heck was this? "Um, he's unable to come to the phone right now. Excuse me, but who am I speaking to?" Rachel asked, still knitting her brows.

"_Oh."_

Rachel heard the voice sounded disappointed.

"_I'm Penelope. He said that he was going to phone me but I couldn't wait to hear from him, so here I am!"_

The girl named Penelope giggled and kept going before Rachel could put a word in.

"_I was thinking if he would like to meet me tomorrow? I know that he chose the necklace for me to get at Tiffany because he said that it looked good on me. But I had a second thought to get the other one too, you know, that he also mentioned that it was very me."_

So, this girl was the one who had gone shopping with Finn at Tiffany. Having stolen a glance at the living room, Rachel fled to the downstairs, listening to the girl's blabbing. Once she shut the door of the bedroom behind her, she straightened up to confront the girl who seemed to try to steal her man. "Are you aware that you're talking to his _girlfriend_?" she punctuated as she bluntly asked.

"_Are you? I thought that his girlfriend's name was Rafaela or Rebecca or something."_

Rachel rolled her eyes. "It's Rachel," she firmly announced. "And don't you have a boyfriend? Does he know that you're hitting on another guy who already has a girlfriend?" But all she heard was her small laugh. She felt her blood begin to boil in her head. She was sure that some steam was visibly given off from her ears and her head now.

"_Did he say that? I have a boyfriend? Hmm, he might have made up a story to cover up our date."_

Although Penelope mumbled with giggles the last part of her words on the other end of the phone, Rachel could clearly hear what she had just said. "Date? You must have misunderstood. It was not a date!" she raised her voice despite herself. "I know that _you_ dragged him into Tiffany to buy something for yourself."

"_That's where you're wrong, Rebecca."_

"It's _Rachel_," Rachel stomped her feet at the place.

"_Anyway, I'll be calling later when he's available. I hope you won't be bothering to answer his phone without his permission, Rafaela."_

With that, Penelope hung up on Rachel.

When Rachel was about to go upstairs and get her boyfriend to explain everything, the phone buzzed again. She scrolled the phone screen to read the text that had just come in.

**Why did you tell her that I had a boyfriend? As far as I'm concerned, YOU asked me to keep you company, didn't you? Should I take it that we're going on a second date tomorrow? I understand that it's not easy to break up with her, but I believe we'll be together soon. I'm going to bed tonight holding your word onto my heart. I know we're getting along REALLY well. – Penelope**

On her rational side, she knew that Finn was not one to engage in infidelity. On the other hand, he was apparently hiding something from her, if there was some truth of Penelope's words. Rachel knew that Finn was very attractive unlike her and a man of many girls' dream, which sometimes made her insecurities pop up in her head. She was vertically-challenged with a big nose after all.

But her love for him was second to none!

Rachel tried to control her breathing from some wrath towards the thick skin girl on the phone before emerging out of the bedroom to confront her boyfriend.

* * *

"You lied to me," Rachel slid herself between the TV and the sofa where the boys and Burt were sitting on, her arms across her chest, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Huh?" Finn tilted his head down to one side to continue watching the game.

"What the fuck, Berry?" Puck cried out. "Move your ass!" he nudged Finn's arm. "Dude, do something!"

Rachel glanced back at the TV quickly before turning her head to throw a sharp glare at the Mohawk. "Shut it, Puckerman! Who cares? Your team's losing anyway," she said and her gaze shifted to her boyfriend. "So, that was why you asked me?"

"Huh?" Confused, Finn repeated. "Baby, would you just move, please? Jets are on a crucial third down right now," he gestured for her to move.

Rachel's nostril flared. "You asked me was because _you_ wanted to dating another woman, wasn't it?"

"What?" Finn finally tore his gaze away from the TV screen to meet his girlfriend's eyes. His face sported a dumbfounded look, his jaw dropping open. "W-what are you talking about?"

Having decided that their soon-turning-to-be-some-quarrel was more fun to watch than to witness his team losing, Puck rested his body backwards into the sofa, his hand to stop Burt from interfering them, before placing his arms behind his head. "They're like an old married couple, much more interesting to watch than a comedy show," he chuckled. "They're even wearing the weird matching smell!"

"It was from Penelope," Rachel held his phone up in the air. "The call," she continued, "she said that she didn't have a boyfriend and _you_ asked her to go out with you!"

"Penelope? Who?" Finn asked with a frown.

"The woman that you took out to Tiffany!" Rachel raised her voice, her hand on her hip, the other still holding his phone in the air, ignoring that now all the girls and Kurt walked into the living room to see what was going on.

"Um, uh," Finn ran a hand through his hair, not finding the way to explain the shopping excursion omitting the part of his purchasing the engagement ring.

Rachel's rage gradually formed into some anxiety since Finn hadn't answered her important question. "Do you?" her voice deflated. Then she was about to move her empty hand up to her neckline in order to calm her nervousness with touching her pendant. "Oh, my God!" she cried out. With a surely realization that she lost her pendant somehow, she loosed her grip of the phone.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Finn tried in vain to rescue his phone from falling into the beer pitcher.

_PLOP._

"Oh, my God!" Rachel repeated, her hand on her mouth, unaware that Finn's phone was now completely soaked in the beer. She rushed into the downstairs, leaving everybody making faces in the living room.

"What was _that_?" Kurt said, picking Rusty up from the floor.

Undecided whether he should chase after his girlfriend or check his phone first, Finn stood on his feet at the place, his eyes to the way Rachel ran to. Then he glanced down at the beer pitcher, to find that his phone had already been pulled out of it by someone. He shifted his gaze to the blonde guy, who was now removing the battery, SIM card and SD card from the phone.

"What?" Sam looked at Finn, neatly placing the phone parts on the paper towel.

"What are you doing with my phone?" Finn asked, frowning.

"I just tried to save your data from water damage," Sam replied nonchalantly. "I can't guarantee, but it might help to save your phone."

"Oh," Finn rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, thanks." _But you can't wipe your ruining my night off the books._ He mentally added before shaking his head. "I, um, am going to check up on Rachel," he announced and walked out of the living room, wondering what had just happened and how he was going to explain the shopping with Penny Owen.

Finn let out a sigh, feeling a headache start bugging him.

Well, at least the Berrys had already been on the way home. He should be relieved that they hadn't seen him and their daughter making a scene in the living room.

* * *

**Please review :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thank you for reading my story and for the responses! Sorry for the late update. I've been down with a cold for a while. Now I'm fine again! I'm fully aware that I ignored the (real) broadcasting schedule of NFL Thanksgiving games in the last chapter and will in this chapter (my imaginary third game is Giants vs. Broncos). I hope you guys could bear with the contradictory to the real world.**

**Disclaimer; I do not own Glee and its characters, and any resemblance to real persons or organizations is purely coincidental.**

* * *

**Still Thursday, November ****26, 2015**

Finn took a deep breath before slowly opening the door to the downstairs bedroom. He poked his head through it seeing inside, only to find his girlfriend frenziedly rummaging her luggage freaking out. Unlike the morning that she had come to realize that she had lost her flower ring, certifiably freaking out.

Rachel dropped her head down on her chest along with a loud sigh, her knees down on the floor beside the bed, trying her best to concentrate on her memory access; How did it happen? When was her star shaped pendant slipped out of the necklace chain? Breathing heavily, she endeavored to reach back into her memory of the previous day.

When something hit the back of her mind, her boyfriend's voice snapped her thoughts up.

"Rachel?"

Rachel shot up her head before turning it to find her boyfriend standing with a concerned look in the doorway. She stared at him with flustered eyes, nervously fumbling her pendant-less thin chain around her neck.

Smelling something other than her agitation by Penny Owen's call, Finn walked over to the bedside without a single word. He sat on the floor next to her and studied her eyes, which had been following every movement he made. His knees to his chest, his arms wrapping his folded legs, Finn patiently waited for her to speak up.

"Finn–" Rachel's voice was barely audible, feeling guilty not only because some realization crossed her mind, but also what she had lost was her 23rd birthday gift from him. "I-I'm sorry," she clasped his sleeve in her balled hands, her forehead rested on his upper arm. "I've lost the star pendant that you gave me last year," she whispered.

"Oh," Finn looked down at her, half relieved, half confused. Sure, he was a bit disappointed that she had lost his gift for her, but it was not like she had thrown it away on purpose, right? It had been an accident, it happened sometimes. He had no idea why Rachel seemed to get the wind up so much. "Rachel, it's fine, it's no big deal," he assured her, a slight frown marred his forehead.

Rachel looked up through her eyelashes before she flattened his knees on the floor and straddling his legs between her own, her arms around his neck. "You're not mad?" she asked fidgeted.

Pulling himself a bit away from her face, Finn stared at her with a funny look. "Why would I be? It was an accident, right?"

Deciding to distract him from her following confession, Rachel buried her face in his neck, starting to plant chaste kisses on it and not so subtly grind on his groin.

Not aware of what she was aiming for, Finn immediately closed his eyes, loving her soft lips and the friction, his hand automatically sneaking under her skirt to gently rub her thighs.

"Yes. But i-it might," Rachel hesitated, keeping her trick play with her lips and hips, "have happened when I lay down in a bathtub." She confessed, cunningly omitted where exactly she had lost the pendant from it.

"Hmmmmm."

Rachel's warm fabric between her legs and her hot breath on his neck diverted his attention, Finn failed to understand what she was getting at. And now his hands slid into her panties and started to caress her butt cheeks.

Assuming that she successfully distracted her boyfriend, Rachel continued her ministration for him. Then she suddenly came up with some idea, which she thought was a good one, for her to satisfy her curiosity and spend adventurous time with him during the strike. That would be exciting!

"Do you think," Rachel started between her kisses onto his lips, "you could come with me," another kiss, playing with his nape with her gentle fingers, "to get it back? I mean," she pecked on his lips once again before quickly adding, "I don't know whether he found it in the bathtub or not."

Feeling too good around his already hard-on to have his capability to comprehend her suggestion correctly, Finn easily agreed with nods.

"Great!" Rachel said cheerfully, abruptly pulling her face from his. "Now I could go further to solve the mystery!" satisfied, she told herself, clapping her hands as she was about to climb off of his lap.

Finn's eyes fluttered open by missing her intimate contacts with his lips and his boner, which made him finally realize what he had just been forced into. "Whoa, hold on," he narrowly grabbed her hand to pull her down in order to get her to expound _and_ resume what she had been doing to his body. "What did you just say?" he asked. "Who did you mean? Who's he?"

Forcibly restored to the original position on him, Rachel bit her bottom lip.

"Rachel?" Finn asked again in a more demanding tone this time, gripping her waist tightly with one arm not to let her escape.

"I, um," Rachel started, her eyes cast down, "lost it yesterday," she took a pause before confiding, "when I snuck into Mr. McIntosh's apartment."

Finn let out a sigh, running an empty hand through his hair. "Alright, forget about the pendant," he said firmly. "And we're definitely not gonna go in there."

"But I want it back!" Rachel pouted, pleading with her best puppy dog eyes. "That's my favorite, Finn! I figured now where I left it, so why not?"

"Rachel!" Finn admonished. "Even so, you're not gonna sneak into his apartment. How many times do I have to tell you this? It's a crime, Rach. You're not supposed to do such a thing!" he shot a sharp look at her.

"I'm not saying that we're going to sneak into his apartment!" Rachel argued. "We'll be just visiting our neighbor to get acquainted, you know, bringing a cake or something? And I could be looking for my pendant if you'd have a nice conversation with him or them, if Sugar is home, in the living room or somewhere but the bathroom," she suggested nonchalantly, ignoring her boyfriend's reprimand.

"Cut it out, Rach," Finn shook his head, "I know what you're thinking. I'm most certainly not gonna do that for you."

Finn saw her stern eyes on his own, her lips pouted. Usually, Finn loved looking back into her big brown eyes, which never failed to show her love for him. Those eyes always lit up when she saw him. Her presence itself made any room brightened up, but her eyes? They made his spirits lightened. But he now could see flames blazing up in them, which made him shift uncomfortably at the place.

"Well, in that case, you don't have to come with me to get it back then," Rachel said in a sullen manner as she shook his hand off of her waist. "So that you could go on a date with Penelope tomorrow, right?" she concluded irrationally, rising to her feet on the floor.

"Huh?" Dumbfouded, Finn blinked once or twice before looking up at his girlfriend.

"You said that she had a boyfriend, which she doesn't. You promised me that you wouldn't lie to me, but you did. _Again!_" Rachel raised her voice, her hand on her hip.

"I just didn't want you to be worried, that's it, Rach!" Finn stood up and attempted to reach for her, but Rachel stepped back before he could touch her. "Babe, I'm not interested in her, not one bit, I swear!" he tried to step closer to her again.

Rachel stepped backward until she couldn't anymore. She folded her arms across her chest in defense for her insecurities. "Oh, really? Then why did you give her your number to begin with? Why did you ask her to keep you company, Finn? Haven't you read her text?" she asked in an accusing tone.

"I don't know how she got my number!" Finn cried out. "And I didn't ask her to keep me company either!" he stretched his arms to soothe her arms up and down before telling the truth (but managing to replace the part of 'the engagement ring' with 'her 24th birthday present') and how he had ended up with Penny Owen forcibly. "If you don't believe, ask Mrs. Penkala or Blaine!" he said, hoping they would be playing along with the part of the object that he had got if his girlfriend would really make a phone call or something.

"Give me your phone," Rachel held her hand out to him. "I don't have Mrs. Penkala's number or her email address, so give it to me."

"Um," Finn tilted his head up to stare at the ceiling, wondering if he should tell her that he hadn't been able to read it because his cell phone might have been damaged because of her. "My cell phone might have been broken." he decided against it because it could add fuel to the fire in her eyes if he would say that _she_ had broken his phone even though it had not meant her intention.

"Broken?" narrowing her eyes suspiciously, Rachel looked up at him. Completely oblivious of her having dropped his phone into the beer jar, she wondered if he destroy the evidence of his tryst with Penelope on purpose.

"Babe," Finn wrapped his arms around her waist, letting her arms around his neck. He decided to execute her trick play for distraction, craning his neck, starting to place his lips on her nape, which made her drive crazy. "You're the only one that I want, you know that right?" he whispered against her nape. He smirked as he felt her shudder by his tongue. So, he scooped her off the floor, his hands cupping her perfect round ass, pressing her tiny body against the wall, his lips searching her own. Rachel's legs automatically got hooked on to his hips.

When things between the two got heated up, Rachel already half naked, her hands unbuckling Finn's belt, the door was banged open widely along with a male voice '_Yo, Hudson!_'

Rachel screamed with embarrassment as Finn groaned dropping his head onto Rachel's shoulder. "Fuck off, asshole!" he yelled, not bothering to turn his head in the intruder's direction.

Much to the couple's disappointment, Puck walked into the room without hesitation. He chuckled, seeing them almost having a go at it.

"Noah, get out!" hiding her boyfriend's large frame, Rachel shouted at the same time Finn yelled again, "Puck!"

The Mohawk, however, was most certainly not one to pass the opportunity to interrupt them. "Dude, the third game–, whoa, whoa, whoa!" he was cut off by the flying objects, which happened to be Rachel's shoes. He protected himself from the shoes, covering his face with his arms.

Rachel chose the moment when Puck was distracted by her shoes, slipping down from her boyfriend and quickly picking her clothes to put them on.

Finn shut his eyes close for a moment, internally summoning the footage of the mailman, which had been long time forgotten to calm Finn's Jr. Then he let out a deep, frustrated sigh, before turning around to face his best friend. "When the fuck are you gonna learn how to knock on the door?" he said petulantly, glaring at the Mohawk.

"When the fuck are you gonna learn how to lock the door, Finessa?" Puck mocked in answer.

Rachel, already fully clothed, huffed as she soothed her hair with her hands. And she roughly pushed the Mohawk's shoulder making her way over the doorway before picking her shoes up from the floor and leaving the room without a word.

"The fuck?" Puck whined, seeing her out of the room.

"Dude!" Finn yelled as he dragged the Mohawk out of the room with him. "Don't rub her the wrong way!" he warned. "_You_'ve made things go up in fucking smoke!"

"What did I–" Puck bit his tongue as he saw the taller guy shot a piercing glare at him, so he just held his hand up in the air in defeat.

Finn shook his head. He'd finally managed to get on her good side, but it could possibly come to naught. He didn't want to think that someone or something could be on her high again.

* * *

Finn got bored as the game between the Broncos and Giants went on since it wasn't as exciting as he had anticipated. "Hey," he called out to the Mohawk, his eyes still on the TV screen, "why didn't you just share information about the Sugar Motta girl with Rachel?"

"Where would be fun if I did?" Puck snorted. "Putting your girl back up is the most entertaining in the mother earth, it's fucking hilarious!" he chuckled, recalling the angry Rachel of the previous day in the den before adding, "and seeing your spooked reaction to her anger is the second best."

If his best friend meant that the entertaining was equal to the definition of sexy or hot, Finn would totally agree with him. Not that he wanted Puck to see Rachel a piece of meat or something.

Rachel had four different kinds of so called anger.

One; it was the frustrated-angry with herself when neither could she hit the note, convey her emotions to songs, nor get right into her role as she liked. Which was super cute and sexy as hell at the same time. It never failed to make him want to kiss her senseless.

Two; it was the angry-jealous when she witnessed Finn _accidentally_ (he swore!) laying his eyes on racks of some other girls who happened to be passing by them or when some other girls tried to flirt with him despite Rachel was right beside him. Which, of course, he resulted in eating thousands humble pies, but he internally enjoyed her jealous face to be honest. It was pretty adorable and hot too.

And angry-jealous sex was awesome! It brought her side of aggressiveness in the sack. And her giving him head? That felt. So. Fucking. Good. Had he already said that Rachel had no gag reflex? Her tongue on his tip and her full lips along with his...

Well, that was not the right point here.

Three; it was the simple anger when Finn didn't do house chores which she asked him to or scattered his clothes and shoes about their apartment. Which also he thought she looked kinda hot, but he would never ever let it appear on his face because, if he did, she raised her angry level up to the next one.

Four; it was the scary-anger when Finn did a dumb thing (mostly forced by Puck) or word-vomited. Which sometimes turned out to be the silent-anger. That was the most bloodcurdling and he sincerely hoped to never come upon.

Appendix; there was one more between Three and Four and it was when she couldn't get what she wanted. It took time for him to coax her up without pointing her out that she got irrational. His best skill to make her brain functions work correctly was very much required.

And it had been so close to the level Four when Puck had refused to share information about the Sugar girl(s).

Before Finn could retort, Burt opened his mouth. "What did you just say?"

"Berry's angry face–"

"No, it's not that," Burt cut Puck off as he turned to face his step son. "You said _Sugar Motta_? What's the matter with her?"

"You didn't know the news?" Finn asked. "About the girl named Sugar Motta? Who committed suicide?"

"What?" Burt widened his eyes surprised. He had been too pressed with work not only on weekdays but weekends until the previous day to give heed to the news other than his tire shop business and the current issues in education in the country. "She did commit suicide?"

"Did you know her?" Puck raised his eyebrow, leaning forward. "What did you know about her?" he asked.

"I didn't know much about her, but I did about her father," Burt started to inform the boys of Al Motta and his daughter, well, daughters, to be precise.

Al Motta, Texas native, had moved to the City to expand his business over twenty years before with his wife and their only child named Sugar, who had been just born. Five years later, after the success of his business expansion, he had decided to stand as a candidate for the mayor of New York City. He, however, had been compelled to withdraw from the candidacy since him having a concealed love child had been disclosed over the course of the negative campaign by the rival candidate.

"He also ended up making a fool of himself when it was revealed that his concealed love child was also named Sugar," Burt added.

"Who the hell names not only his baby Sugar but his other one the same name? He must have been pathologically obsessed with sweet substances or something," Sam chuckled.

"Maybe," Burt shrugged. "Anyway, he and his family moved back to Texas after that, and it was unfortunate to hear that he and his wife had a car accident a couple years back and left behind their child, well, children, I suppose."

"Do you happen to know what that secret love child's last name was?" Puck continued to investigate.

Burt nodded as he chugged his beer. "I do with clarity because it was an unusual last name. It was Applebee. Why?" he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Finn shared looks with Puck.

"Okay, now tell me why you came to my apartment building the other day," Finn demanded.

Puck rubbed his Mohawk as he let out a sigh. "When we found the dead body under the bridge, well actually she was found at the riverbank with the broken rope under the bridge, there were only two belongings of the girl. Her wallet and sunglasses," he started. "Her ID in the wallet was too old and it took a few days for us to trace who she was and where she lived," he told the process.

"So, Rachel was right. The girl was Mrs. Sugar McIntosh," Finn said, more telling himself than asking his friend. "Did he confirm from identification? I mean, Biff McIntosh?"

"He will, tomorrow afternoon," Puck informed before he started losing deep in his own thought.

Sugar Motta (McIntosh), who was reportedly found dead didn't leave any suicide note. According to the autopsy, her death was due to cervical spine fracture, and the presumed time of her death was sometime between the early morning and the noon on the last Saturday, which, however, was tricky, considering of the air and water temperature of the day, her intragastric contents (including drugs), and more importantly no witnesses.

And Biff McIntosh (verified he had an alibi) thought that his wife had been out with her friends for days because she got sometimes depressed, but said that he had never imagined that his wife would have committed suicide (so, he hadn't filed a missing person report on her). Yet, the police couldn't draw a conclusion of homicide.

Finn frowned seeing the Mohawk's demeanor. "Did Rachel tell you that she had seen her in the morning of the day the girl was found dead?"

"What?" Puck shot his head up to see the tallest guy, "What time?"

"Um," Finn scratched the back of his head, "I don't know exactly but she saw her on the way to walk Rusty," he said. "Rachel said that the girl hadn't looked like a person who would commit suicide. And Sugar asked her to teach how to bake and stuff in the afternoon. Well, apparently she stood her up though," he shrugged.

"I must have a talk with Berry either way, huh?" Puck scrunched his nose. "Alright, then tell her to come by the station tomorrow."

"I'll come too," Finn announced. "What time should we come?"

"Before Biff McIntosh coming would be appreciated," Puck requested. "How about 10?"

While Finn and Puck were discussing the time, Sam started to put Finn's cell phone, the battery, SIM card and SD card together. "I think you should go to the Apple store after that," Sam said, handing the phone out to Finn. "Some data seem to be saved, but it should get checked. You perhaps need a new one."

"Um, thanks," Finn said as he examined his damaged cell phone. He let out a sigh, realizing that there was only one text left that he could read. The Penny Owen's of all texts. Then he widened his eyes as he started to read it.

What the fuck?

He would've never agreed with Mrs. Penkala's suggestion if he had known that Penny could be this crazy.

Puck leaned closer to Finn to peek into the screen of his phone. "Who's Penelope? Does she have big tits?"

"She's our school nurse, and yeah, 'big' is an understatement," Finn said absent-mindedly as he scrolled the screen to figure out how damaged his phone was.

Puck chuckled. "You finally realized how boring visually and tactually having sex with small boobs is? And decided to dump Berry and chase after huge ones?" he patted Finn on the shoulder. "I'm proud of you, Maverick, I really am," he smirked.

"I didn't know that he liked big boobs, man," Sam chimed in. "I thought he was an ass man instead, judging by his track record of women, you know, either Jenny or Rachel, or Quinn for that matter, don't have big tits," he pointed out.

"Dude, Finny D just had a fling with Q as his rebound after Jenny the bitch atrociously dumped him," Puck bluffed with a smug face. He knew that when all three boys in high school they had had a small crush on Quinn who had been dating with the head of the student council at that time, and Finn and Quinn had kissed once in high school. The time Puck had succeeded in persuading her to date him was way long after that.

"No shit! A fling?" Sam arched his eyebrow before turning his head to face Finn. "You didn't tell me that you'd banged Q too!" he nudged Finn's shoulder roughly.

"What?" he shot up his head, looking at the blonde guy with a frown. "What are you talking about? I haven't banged her, ever!" he shook Sam's hand off of him. "We just kissed, once in high school! That's it! Besides, _she_ initiated!" he raised his voice. "And I know you've kissed her too!"

"The fuck?" Puck cried, "you never told–, whoa, wait a sec, what did you mean by 'too,' not the kiss part, but the bang part, fucking Biebster?"

Burt rolled his eyes as he saw the three childish grown-ups bickering each other. He shook his head and was about to flee from the kindergarten, only to find Rachel standing in the living room doorway, holding the dog nervously. "Rachel…"

Finn snapped out at his step father's calling his girlfriend's name before turning his head to look at her in horror. He could see her face almost crumble. Since when she was standing there? Not that he could remember most of the conversation other than Quinn since he had been too preoccupied with checking his phone to listen to it between his friends.

Rachel played with the hem of her skirt with the fingers of her empty hand and cleared her throat. "I'm going to leave now," she announced calmly. "But you," she glared at her boyfriend, "should stay here for the time being, Finn."

"W-what?" Finn asked fidgeted, his ass cemented on the sofa. "A-are you kicking me out of my apartment?" he choked, unaware that he had just word-vomited.

"Uh-oh," Sam murmured under his breath, averting his eyes away from the couple, while Puck was grinning with satisfactory, leaning back further into the sofa, his arms behind his head, fully preparing himself to have fun to watch some live comedy show in front of his eyes instead of paying his attention to the game on TV.

Rachel widened her eyes. She tried to pull herself together, tucking a pile of her hair behind her ear, the other hand gripping Rusty tightly. "Right, _your_ apartment," she quietly repeated, her biting her bottom lips, her eyes casting down. "Then," she looked up at Finn, "I'll be staying out so you can have your apartment all you want." With that, Rachel sprinted to the downstairs to pack her things for leaving the Upper East Side apartment.

What had just happened? What did he just say?

It took a while for him to understand what had happened and what he had said to her. By the time he came to grasp the situation, however, his girlfriend snuck out of his parents' apartment with Rusty and Ms. Bonaparte.

Oh man. He fucked up!

Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!

This was the level Four. No. Beyond the level Four.

He needed a huge damage control.

Before it could be past recalling.

* * *

**Please review :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thank you for reading my story and for the kind responses!**

**Disclaimer; I do not own Glee and its characters, and any resemblance to real persons or organizations is purely coincidental.**

* * *

**Friday, November ****27, 2015**

Rachel couldn't sleep, she couldn't help but chew the cud of the series of events on the previous day at the Hudson-Hummel apartment.

It had been a while since she had to go to bed alone. Finn was like her sleeping pillow. Though he complained that she was a terrible bed hog, his presence in the same bed gave her a feeling of peace and safe. She used to sleep alone for so long before she met Finn. But having gotten used to be with him in the same bed, she had restless nights without him.

So, instead of having her beauty sleep with effort, she was overlooking the early morning city from the room on the 17th floor at Park Hyatt, where she had checked in with Finn's credit card which she had stolen from his wallet when she had left his parents' apartment.

Luckily or unluckily, somehow, the creepy Jefrow named Jacob Ben Israel, who had changed his waiter job at a restaurant to a front clerk at Park Hyatt all of the places, willingly accepted Finn's credit card in exchange for her phone number (Ew. She should get a new number once she would check out, Rachel thought).

What? Who wanted to pay a room rate of more than 1,000 dollars for a night? Of course, Rachel didn't. Finn should! It was a kind of retribution. Her itty bitty reprisal!

Anyway.

Finn's comment on Penny Owen's chest aside, Rachel had no worries about his feelings for the girl. She didn't think that he had lied about his no interests in her. Having said that, it would be highly possible that Penelope would cause them trouble. Which meant that Rachel needed to come up with something to get rid of her out of Hudson-Berry's life.

Sending her to crack house was out of the question because here was New York City, not Lima, Ohio—Rachel once in high school, since she had felt threatened by her singing talent, she had sent a new student to a local crack house, which was an inactive, she swore! If she did the same thing in the City, she possibly should get involved in some crime and arrested for the aiding and abetting in it.

Hence, she was going to stick to employing standard tactics, like, covering incriminating evidences that Penelope had hustled Finn's number and email address (she was exhibiting stalking behavior, wasn't she?), so that she could let her quit Finn's school or send her to another school (out of the state, of course), right?

That was, however, not a pressing issue here. Besides, she'd better play cat and mouth with Penny for the time being because the more time would pass the more evidences she could get to catch the girl out in stalking.

His use of the word 'his' upon 'their' apartment was not an urgent issue either, though she got hurt more than a little to be honest. She knew that he made wrong choices of words without thinking, like _a lot_, when he got nervous or panic or tried to mend something _too hard_. So, she let him off the hook on this too. Not that it meant that he wouldn't have to make it up to her, though.

What was bothering her the most was the facts that Finn and Quinn had shared a kiss and he had kept it from her.

Rachel had told him everything. Every tiny little thing. About her past relationships or love interests for that matter. From her first crush in kindergarten and her first kiss (it was just a peck, more precisely) in elementary school, to the details of her relationship with Jesse St. James, which understandably Finn hadn't been thrilled with listening to though.

As for Finn's, she thought that he had told her everything like she him. Apparently he hadn't, though he'd told her about his crush on a comic book female character like _Elektra_ (who had big boobs, of course! But hey, where the hell were heroines with small boobs in comic books?) which, as anticipated, had led him to have a celebrity crush on _Jennifer Garner_ (so there had been a certain period of time that Finn had nursed a grudge on _Ben Affleck_), or even tried to recall his every drunken night with the girls in collage as much as possible. She had been very much appreciated that.

Rachel wandered into the bathroom. She sighed as she was looking at herself in the mirror. She had thought that she had overcome her insecurities about appearances throughout the years. Those insecurities, however, unexpectedly popped up at times. It was like she was born with unexploded ordnances in her body.

She knew what Jenny looked like because she had met her once. And what Quinn looked like too. Both had a perfect figure for girls to die for. So beautiful. And blonde. Not that she was going to mark grades, which hair color was better on girls like guys tended to. Nonetheless, she was not going to dwell on it, even though a part of her wanted to scream in order to get one of her buried mines out of her body.

Finn would say to her that she was beautiful, he loved the way she was, more often than not. Sometimes she wanted to cry when he told her those things because she couldn't help but think of herself as the luckiest girl in the world being loved by such a guy like him. A sweet, caring, and handsome guy that every girl would ever dream of.

However, there were times when she felt uneasy, especially when some pretty girls ignored her presence and blatantly flirt with him. Finn was really a nice guy, but sometimes could be, well, thick. It took a lot for him to show them his annoyance, although Rachel hardly witnessed him showing it, much to her disappointment.

One day, about their reconciliation, she couldn't deal with that kind of things, though she would try her hardest not to be a needy, clingy girlfriend. She had exploded at her boyfriend who had flirted back with some blonde bimbo in the middle of their date (on Valentine's day, for God's sake!) at a restaurant. How insensitive he could be, how miserable she had felt being the one to play the third wheel.

Of course, he had made an excuse, like, _'I didn't flirt back with her! I just smiled, was being nice to her!'_ But did you know what his facial expression had been while she'd been yelling at him? He'd been throwing his signature lopsided grin at her throughout her explosion! Uugghh!

Yet, she had gotten over it. Because, after the fight, he had finally admitted that he had felt that he was the one who always got more jealous; she was surrounded by so many talented and good looking guys, and he sometimes was scared of her realizing that he was not good enough for her. That was the moment when she had opened her eyes that Finn had his own insecurities as well.

And lovemaking after sharing their insecurities? That had been so romantic and sensual at the same time. His large calloused hands all over her body had felt so _so_ good. He usually was adorably clumsy, but those hands got transformed into magical ones when it came to playing his drums _and _her body…

Okay, that was not the point here either.

The thing was, he had kept the kiss with Quinn from her for a long time! Why had he done that? How had they ended up kissing? Was that really one kiss? Was there more story to be told behind the kiss?

Rachel let out a sigh and looked down at the floor as Rusty nudged her left foot with his nose asking her to take him out for a walk.

"Alright, alright. Give me a minute to change my clothes," Rachel picked him up and gave him a big kiss on his forehead.

* * *

Kurt walked into the living room of Hudson-Berry household as he scrunched his nose in distaste, seeing many beer bottles scattering on the coffee table and the three morons spreading their bodies on the sofa.

The previous night was an utter mess. Especially after Rachel had left. Because, she was not the only one to have overheard the conversation between the idiots.

_Furious Quinn grabbed the collar of her husband, dragging him into the dining room while Carole and Burt evacuated her children to the upstairs and Finn chased after his girlfriend outside._

"_You really are stupid! I don't care you talk about other girls' boobs or your 'imaginary' women who you've been claiming you hit. I don't care you jerk off with _Sport Illustrated Swim Suits Issues_ or _Hustler TV_ either. But talking about me as if I was some kind of whore? That's unacceptable!" Quinn hysterically growled._

"_I just pointed out how fuckable you were," Puck reasoned plausibly in a defensive posture. "You should be proud of yourself being the hottest girl in the world who every man would want to tap."_

_Now Quinn got livid. "Are you even aware that you're thirty with two children? Why so crude and juvenile? Oh God," she buried her face in her hands, "I feel like I'm such an idiot, got pregnant and married with this biggest asshole." Frustrated, she threw her hands in the air before glaring at her husband, gritting her teeth, her hands into balls beside her body. "Don't come home unless you're grown up!" With that, she walked away from him towards the upstairs._

"_Chicks are always beefing about their men not making them desirable and shit, but once we do as we're told they find fault with everything we talk," Puck mumbled, rubbing his Mohawk, trying to save his own ass._

_Sam chuckled, seeing the Mohawk daunted from afar as though it had nothing to do with him._

_Mercedes rolled her eyes. Her fiancé was really a nincompoop. Plus, how dare he not tell her about the relationship with Quinn? She approached and stood in front of him, her arms across her chest._

_Sam looked up at his fiancée from the sofa, still chuckling. "Obviously Quinn is the one to wear the pants in the Puckerman's, don't you think? Puck's always claiming he rules his wife."_

_It was too late for Sam to see what was coming._

_Mercedes shut her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. "When you come to your senses," she opened her eyes to look into Sam's eyes with a stern face, "you can come home," she announced. Then she picked up her stuff from the dining table and left the apartment._

That was how Puck and Sam ended up staying overnight at the Hudson - Berry apartment.

As for Finn, having tried in vain to catch up with Rachel, he had rung like a madman everybody and anybody who could come to his mind from his house phone the previous night the second they had gotten home. Yet, he had failed to find his girlfriend's whereabouts and gotten flustered, pacing around the apartment.

It had been until he found that she had snuck his credit card out of his wallet. Claiming that she was being overreacting, he had joined the other boys in the sulking party, getting drunk, playing stupid video games.

Now here they were.

Kurt looked at the children in around thirty frame.

While he thought that the girls were being overreacting a bit as well, he had to agree with them getting disgusted with the boys. See? It was until he finished cleaning the mess up in the living room _and_ preparing the breakfast that they finally woke up. Boys were helpless and useless.

He shook his head, placing the dishes for the three on the kitchen counter.

"Did you get hold of her?" Finn asked as he walked into the kitchen, yawning and slipping his hand under his shirt of the previous night to scratch. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and turned to face his step brother.

"I tried, but her phone goes straight to voicemail," Kurt answered as he handed a coffee mug out to Finn. "She brought your flexible friend with her, didn't she? Why don't you ask him to track its application status? You may find where she is," Kurt suggested, nodding towards the Mohawk who was approaching the kitchen sluggishly, Sam in tow.

Finn's eyes lit up at his brother's suggestion. "You're a genius!" he hugged him with one arm.

Kurt flinched. "You smell criminally awful," he shook Finn's arm off, shuddering at the very thought of which he might spend days with them in the same apartment, before looking over the three. "You two as well. All of you, no shower, no tooth brush, and tons of alcohol from last night. Get busy eating, take a shower, and groom yourselves as soon as possible, _please_."

Kurt rolled his eyes, seeing the boys already hastily stuffing their breakfast into their mouth directly from the plates with no use of any utensils.

Thank Gucci, he was born gay.

* * *

After having given the dog enough exercise in the Central Park dog run, Rachel strode back into the hotel with Rusty, who started to growl seeing someone or something he disliked. She looked down at him. "Rusty, what's wrong with you?" she frowned, tugging the leash.

"Rachel!" the familiar voice came from behind.

Rachel whirled around, widening her eyes, to find her ex-boyfriend running towards her. "Jesse! What're you doing here?" she asked as she bent down to calm her dog, who was snarling at the curly haired guy with undisguised hostility. She wondered why Jesse was here because he had gotten a role in a TV drama and moved to LA over a year before (Needless to say, Finn had gotten blown out on the news).

Jesse narrowed his eyes at the dog before his eyes shifted to Rachel. He cleared his throat. "I'm staying here," he announced.

"For what?" Rachel asked as she scooped the dog off the floor.

"I have a couple of talk shows to be on, you know, to promote _Ghostsinger_ second season," Jesse informed before shrinking back at Rusty's yapping. "Uh, you're staying here too?" he saw Rachel nodding. "Then why don't you leave him in the room and join me for breakfast?" he tried to eliminate the hindrance to him in a casual way. "I mean, did you have breakfast? It's been a long time since we spent time together," he reasoned.

"Um, okay," Rachel agreed, knowing all too well that Finn wouldn't like if he knew that she accepted his invitation. But Jesse was not only her ex, but old friend as well. Besides, it was not like she would be with him alone in a locked room. One breakfast. With her old friend. In a public place. That was it. "Where were you going to have it?" she asked as she was about to walk away.

"_The Living Room_," Jesse said. "I'll wait for you there."

Rachel nodded. "I'll be in ten minutes," she replied over her shoulder.

Due to Rusty's strong resistance to her being alone with Jesse, Rachel entered _The Living Room_ twenty minutes later, massaging her temple with a hand. She saw Jesse signaling with a waving hand, sitting on the couch by the windows. When she approached him, he stood up and circled the table, nodding to the couch for her to take before he perched himself on the chair across.

Throughout having breakfast, Jesse talked her ear off about his TV show, but Rachel didn't care. It was a kind of welcome distraction, for her to push her thoughts of Finn and Quinn aside. Although she hadn't been listening to half of his story. Even she charged their breakfast to her room while Jesse continued talking.

"Why don't you come visit me in LA? I could introduce you to TV producers," Jesse tried to get her attention.

"Huh?" Rachel looked up at him through her tea cup. "I'm not a Hollywood actress. Besides, I still have a lot of roles that I want to play on Broadway," she declined.

"Why? You could be a TV star, or movie star for that matter," Jesse pushed.

Rachel shook her head. "Jesse, I'm not pretty enough for movies or TV shows," she answered, trying to sound nonchalant, playing with the rim of her tea cup.

"You're pretty enough for them," Jesse placed his hand on her own. "You're the most talented that I've ever known," he squeezed her hand. "Is that because of Hudson? You're still with him," he examined her face.

Truth be told, her agent told her a few months ago that she had gotten some offers from TV shows filming in LA. Rachel, however, wasn't interested in it. Yes, Finn was one of the reasons. But it was the truth that she had a lot of roles to dream of playing on Broadway.

"Yes, I'm with Finn," Rachel continued to sip her tea. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she frowned, seeing him narrow his eyes incredulously.

"Then why are you staying here? Alone?" Jesse pressed.

"Oh," Rachel's face fell a little, but soon she pulled herself together. "Finn surprised me, giving a spa day here. You know, how stressed I can be," she lied, hoping that Jesse would buy it.

"With your dog?" Jesse arched his eyebrow.

"Um," fidgeted, Rachel shifted on the couch, biting her bottom lip. "Finn's having a guys' day in our place today. And Noah, one of his best friends? Rusty doesn't like him because he isn't nice to animals. So I had to take him out with me," she managed to smooth over.

"Alright, I'll leave it at that," Jesse shrugged. "But I still care about you, you know that right?" he said sweetly. "Don't hesitate to talk to me, Rachel."

"Thank you, Jesse," Rachel gave him a tight smile. "Do you have somewhere to be today?" she changed the subject.

Jesse glanced at the time on his wrist. "I'll be stopping by the agent office for my suits fitting in the afternoon," he answered, leaning further against the back of his chair.

At the very moment, something, no, someone familiar caught Rachel's eyes. She gasped. "Jesse," she said in a hushed tone, "let's get out of here," she abruptly got out of the couch as her gaze followed the familiar figure making its way over to the diner exit. She gestured for Jesse to be quiet too with her forefinger on her lips.

Confused, Jesse made a face. "Rachel, wh–"

"Shhhhh!" Whisper-shouting, Rachel cut him off before grabbing Jesse's arm, dragging him into the indoor plant nearby the exit for them to hide from something.

"What're you doing? Why do we have to lurk here?" Jesse said in a hushed tone, looking down at her before roving around the diner. "I didn't see any paparazzi here–"

"Shush!" Rachel forced him to bend over before whispering in his ear. "Can you see that girl on sunglasses?" Rachel pointed to the blonde girl wearing a Chanel suit. "I'm sure she's Sugar, Sugar McIntosh or Applebee or whatever," she said, never tearing her eyes away from the girl.

"What are you talking about?"

"It's a long story, no time to explain right now. But I have to follow her," Rachel pulled his arm, determined to follow the Sugar girl till the end of the world.

* * *

Five cab drivers' ignoring Finn later, he hastily ran to the 23rd St. Station. Once he climbed up the stairs of the 57 St., he rushed in the Park Hyatt's direction.

Finn had managed to persuade reluctant Puck to use the police tracking system on his cell phone, claiming that the Mohawk couldn't have a talk with Rachel for the Sugar Motta girl's case unless he would cooperate.

Due to his big appetite and recent lack of exercise, Finn panted in front of Calvary Baptist Church, his hands on his knees. Still bending over, finally he caught his breath and looked up in the direction he had to head for.

That was the moment Finn's eyes caught his girlfriend tiny figure emerging out of the hotel. He straightened up to make his way over towards her before something stopped him.

He widened his eyes.

He saw Rachel about to walk down the street. With Jesse. Linking her arm with the douche's. As if they avoided getting people's attention.

What the fuck!?

Why the hell was he doing here with Rachel? Had she called him to stay at the night with her? At the hotel? No, no, no. That was not possible. He didn't want to think like that. But judging by Finn's past experiences with the Jackass, it would be highly possible that the scumbag was going to come between him and Rachel, _again_! Why did she still stay a friend with the asshole?

Finn felt rage and jealousy gushing out of his whole body. Clenching his hands, gritting his teeth. Then he strode his way over towards them, determined to throw a punch or two or three in the douche's face _and_ scoop his girlfriend up carrying her to the hotel room to fuck her brains out until she would engrave whom she belonged to on every inch of her body, totally oblivious to the necessity for him to tell her the kiss with Quinn.

Breathing heavily, Finn got closer and closer to them.

When he went past by the entrance of the hotel and was about to call out her name, two arms trying to wrap around his one arm from behind startled him.

Finn jumped back and looked down at the arms tangling with his arm. Then his eyes shifted up to a person whom those arms belonged to. "M-M-Ms. Owen?" he choked.

"Finny, call me Penny, or Penelope, please," Penny mischievously grinned at him. "What a coincidence!" she cheerfully said. "I've been trying to reach you. Why didn't you answer the phone?" she asked in a coaxing voice, gripping his arm tightly to her both arms. Little did Finn know that Penny had been following him from his apartment.

"Um, m-my phone was broken," Finn answered absent-mindedly as he shifted his eyes in the direction where Rachel's and Jesse's frames were getting smaller. "And," he glanced at Penny before looking back in his girlfriend's direction. "I-I-I'm a bit up at the moment. I, uh, will call you when I get a new phone," he tried to shake her arms off of his own to walk away from her.

"Oh, I've got plenty of time, Finny. So I can come with you!" Penny snuggled into him persistently.

No, no, no. This was not happening right now. Finn shut his eyes, thinking his hardest to get out of this situation.

"Finny!" Penny loudly called out, trying to get his attention. Which did get not only his attention, but also Rachel's and Jesse's ones.

Finn groaned. He saw Rachel span around to eye in the direction the voice calling his name had come. He could tell, her big eyes were getting bigger to look at him _and_ Penny Owen.

Rachel seemed to hesitate walking back towards the hotel. She looked back at the crossroad of the W 57th St. and Broadway for a second. Then she turned her head to see Finn again and whispered something in Jesse's ear before walking back in the direction where Finn and Penny were standing.

"What are you doing here? With her?" Rachel bluntly said, folding her arms across her chest, throwing a dirty glare at Penny's arms linking with Finn's. Jesse, standing behind Rachel, chuckled mockingly.

Trying to suppress the urges to throw a fit in Jesse's smugly face, Finn breathed deeply before opening his mouth. "What're are you doing here with him?" he petulantly asked in answer. "And I'm not with her," he finally managed to whisk off Penny's arms from his.

"Why are you being so aloof?" pouting, Penny said in a sugary voice, poking her forefinger to Finn's arm playfully, failing to notice that Finn was faltering at her behavior.

Rachel was sure that she was going to throw up if the girl kept talking to her boyfriend like that. "Hello, you must be Penelope," ignoring Finn's question, she fake smiled as she turned to face her, mentally gagging. "It's nice to finally meet you. I'm _Rachel_. _Finn's girlfriend_. I'm sure we did talk on the phone yesterday," she held her hand out for the girl to shake.

Penny ignored Rachel's hand as she looked at her up and down with her measure before turning to look up at Finn. "I thought that your girlfriend was Rafaela or Rebecca, Finny," she soothed his arm flirtatiously with a hand.

"It's _**RACHEL**_!"

"It's _Rachel_!"

Finn and Rachel cried in unison.

Jesse laughed, tipping his head backward. "Well, this is intriguing," he stepped forward to stand next to Rachel and look down at her. "Are you sure you're not interested in coming with me to LA?" he said, patting her shoulder before glancing at the time. "Well, when you get interested in what I said, ring me, Rachel. I'll be staying here until next week," with that, Jesse walked away in the other direction from the hotel with a waving hand.

Finn narrowed his eyes at the back of the douche walking over towards the Fifth Avenue. But the reason why Rachel had been with Jesse could wait. He stepped back from Penny and grabbed Rachel's hand in his. "We need to talk," he said, trying to drag her back into the hotel. "Goodbye, Ms. Owen," he called over his shoulder.

"Can I join you guys?" Penny didn't give up, trying to follow the two of them.

"No!"

"No!"

Finn and Rachel vetoed in unison.

Penny came to a halt, her arms across her chest. "I've got much bigger boobs than her," she murmured, looking down at her own breasts. "Well, I should take it up a notch to get him," with that, she walked away from the hotel with an evil grin.

Finn let out a relieved sigh as he saw Penny give up following them. However, he knew that it would be short lived.

They had a lot to clear and talk about right now.

* * *

**A/N: **_**Ghostsinger**_** is totally a fictional TV show in this fictional story.**

**I hope you guys all will have a Happy Valentine's Day!**

**Please review :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you for reading my story and for the responses! November 27 in this story is going to be a long day for Rachel, Finn, and for you guys as well! This chapter is part 2 of the day. And obviously, part 3 is coming in the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer; I do not own Glee and its characters, and any resemblance to real persons or organizations is purely coincidental.**

* * *

**Friday, November ****27, 2015 Part II**

Rachel had a reason, a certain reason that she had chosen to walk back to the hotel instead of following Sugar. She believed that it would be a better idea than chasing after her, or having a talk about whatever Finn wanted to with her (well, it was as plain as day, though). Those were not all that important right now, at least to her. She had to work on her new operation right away. By the time that Sugar returned to the hotel.

"Finn, wait," Rachel stopped her boyfriend from taking her into the elevator, looking see the school nurse already out of her sight over her shoulder. Then she pulled his hand in the other direction.

Looking down at his girlfriend with a frown, Finn tried to pull her hand back into him. "What are you doing? We have, you know, something to talk about."

"You do. I don't," Rachel replied nonchalantly. "You can walk a talk," she hauled his arm towards the hotel entrance.

Man, she had quite arms for her tiny figure. "I do believe you have something to talk about too," he grumbled under his breath. "Where are we going anyway? I wanted to talk to you in private," he said, letting her continue pulling him nonetheless.

"I need new lingerie," Rachel announced, looking over the street to once again make sure that Penelope had really gone. "So we are going to Victoria's Secret, which is not so far from here."

"Y-you do?" a funny noise slipped from Finn's mouth.

"Hmm-hmm," Rachel smiled up at him smugly.

_Well, that's an interesting development._ Finn thought. He licked his lips expectantly

"I'll even let you pick something for me," she snuggled into his side before looking up at him through her eyelashes. "What'd you think?"

Now Finn's thoughts were going a million miles a minute.

Rachel had been supposed to be angry at him. Angry at his word-vomit, angry-jealous at the kiss with Quinn, and jealous at Penny too, maybe? But now she wanted to go shopping for new lingerie instead of discussing those things? Why? Did that mean that she wanted to have angry-jealous sex? In, by any chance, a fitting room at Victoria's Secret?

Hmm, he could handle _that_.

"You should watch out, you know, Penelope is showing her stalkish nature. I presume that she's been following you this morning," Rachel kept talking despite she had told him that he was the one to talk, turning her head to look at the people walking behind them. Then her gaze shifted to her boyfriend who still was a million miles away. "She is kind of a loose cannon," she shuddered for no reasons. "As for Jesse, you don't need to worry about him. I've just encountered him this morning," she assured him, "he said he came to the City to be on some talk shows."

"What?" Finn snapped out by hearing the abrasive name. "But he asked you to come with him to LA," he murmured, pulling her much closer into him protectively.

"Finn, I love _you_, you know that. And I'm _not_ interested in him or visiting him there," Rachel punctuated, intertwining her fingers with his. "You would know, your getting jealous would only delight him."

"I love you too," Finn placed his lips on her hair before murmuring. "But I'm not jealous," he retorted, trying to sound nonchalantly.

"Yeah, right," Rachel rolled her eyes. "Anyway, we're here," she came to a halt in front of the store at Madison Avenue and East 57th Street. "I want you to pick a pair of panties, not so sexy, but a fascinating one, you know, like stirring guys' imagination. Got it?"

"Huh?" Confused, a frown marred his face. "What do you mean? No thongs?"

"Uh-uh. No thongs," Rachel shook her head.

"But those look perfect on your butt," Finn tried to point out.

"I'm not always wearing thongs or G-strings," Rachel protested. "I want you to pick something that I ordinarily wear," she pursed her lips for a second. "Like Cheekies. But not briefs. Okay?" she led him to the floor where was displaying tons of panties. "I'm going to look for yoga pants or PJs," she said over her shoulder, leaving Finn alone in the panties section.

Now Finn was really confused. Besides, what were Cheekies? Did that mean garters or something? And when did she wear briefs? He only saw her wearing thongs (weren't those the same as G-strings?), normal panties (ones half covering her ass were normal?).

Finn started to take one by one in his hands anyway.

_Hmm, this would look awesome on her ass._ Finn thought, picking a G-string, completely forgetting what Rachel had instructed. He examined pale pink gold color with black lace one with a grin like an idiot. Then he picked another G-string, rose colored floral lace one, the previous one still in his other hand.

"How can I help you?" a sales assistant girl called out behind him.

Finn spun around to face the assistant, the G-strings in his both hands. "Uh, I, um, am looking for Cheekies? I don't know what those are though," he felt his face going red.

"Those are not Cheekies, but G-strings, we call V-strings here though," Giggling, the assistant gestured to the undies in Finn's hands. "But excellent choice. For your girlfriend?"

Finn nervously nodded. "Uh, yeah," he scratched his head. "I want to buy her those kinds of undergarments, but she asked me to pick Cheekies somehow."

"Well, Cheekies are over there," the assistant walked over to the opposite isle. "Cheekies are cheeky panties. See?" she took one of them from the display shelf to show him. "A little peek around backside."

"Ah," Finn circled the display shelf to approach the assistant and study the cheeky panty which the assistant had held in her hands.

Now he remembered Rachel had worn those kinds of panties more often than not. Not that bad. Actually, very hot. Especially lace ones. He took purple one with front and back bows before starting daydreaming as to what these would look like on Rachel's springy ass.

"You really have a good taste in women's undergarments," the assistant complimented, placing her hand on his arm.

"Ahem," Rachel cleared her throat from behind to get her boyfriend's and the flirtatious assistant's attention. "Finn, I told you to pick up something that I usually wore," she demanded, her arms across her chest, before facing the assistant. "I'll take care of it from here," she gave her a fake smile.

Seeing the assistant reluctantly walking away from them out of the corner of her eye, Rachel gestured to the three pairs of panties in Finn's hands. "Those are not ones that I wanted you to choose," she scolded as she took a cotton cheeky panty, which was trimmed at waist and legs by purple lace. "I said," she held them up in front of face, "like this one."

"Well, that's awesome too, but I think the panties I picked for you look hotter on your butt," Finn snuck behind her, starting kissing her neck. "Aren't you giving me your marshmallows? That's why you brought me here with you?" he whispered in her ear, his one hand squeezing one of her butt cheeks. "Or I don't mind just eating your gummy bear in a fitting room?"

He was such a dork sometimes. He named her boobs marshmallows, and the phrase 'giving him her marshmallows' was his way of connotation 'having sex.' And gummy bear? He also named her private parts her favorite fruit candy product and it sometimes meant 'oral sex.'

"Finn!" Rachel whirled around in his arms, blushing furiously despite herself. "We're in a public place!" she hissed. "You know, the sales assistants here have an eye like a hawk. I don't want to be banned from Victoria's Secret stores. So don't try to do such a thing!" she admonished.

It was true that the assistants kept a very close eye on the dressing rooms. Rachel had heard that from Santana, one of her best friends, who had witnessed so many times that every one of guys in an attempt to sneak into the dressing rooms where their partners were trying on undies had been dragged out by securities mercilessly while she had succeeded in making out with Brittany there.

"That's kinda watching paint dry," Pouting, Finn mumbled.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "What made you think that I wanted to give you my marshmallows, or gummy bear for that matter, although you've not explained _the thing_ between you and Quinn yet?"

There she went. "It was just one kiss! In high school!" Finn held his hands up in the air. "_You_ kiss Figo or Fago or whatever every night!" he raised his voice.

"It's Fiyero," Rachel amended. "And that's acting!" she dragged him into the corner of the store. "And keep your voice down!" she whisper-shouted, looking over the store restlessly. She didn't want to make a scene in the public place. Although she was painted green on all her face on stage, she got more and more recognized in the streets as the show went on.

Finn murmured incoherently. Rachel was an actress and he knew that was not the point here. Yet, he would be lying if he said he wouldn't mind her kissing someone else, even on stage.

Rachel let out a sigh. "If this makes you feel better, Thad is gay, Finn," she placed her hand on his arm. "But that's not the point and this is just between you and me, okay? He's closeted," she informed in a low voice. "And would you please accept that I'm an actress and I'll have to make out with actors who are straight too in the future?"

Finn stared at his own feet, running a hand through his hair. Then he just nodded.

"Okay, then think about why I'm mad at you while I'm trying these yoga pants on in the fitting room," with that, Rachel made her way over the dressing area.

* * *

Even though Rachel had demanded that he should pick up a pair of panties that she usually wore, Finn decided to buy some G-strings in addition to the cheeky panty she had handed out to him, _and_ sneak into the dressing room (of course, to have a talk in private. What did you think, huh?)!

He waited for few minutes in the panties section after his girlfriend had headed for the dressing area before acting casually, like, pretending to look around and wander in the store, stepping closer and closer to his determined direction.

What Finn hadn't noticed was there was another person who acted sneaky like him, bellying up to the same area in the store, its intense eyes firmly on every move he was making.

And when he was about to take his final step to the entrance of the dressing area, the person suddenly grasped his hand holding the three pairs of panties from behind.

"UUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHH," too startled, Finn fell on his backside in an attempt to whirl around, and it caused the person who had grabbed his hand to fall on top of him.

"M-M-M-Ms. O-O-Owen?" his voice squeaked. "Wh-what, what're you d-d-doing here?" he stammered as he tried to get Penny out of the way for him to pick himself up.

However, Penny flatly resisted his attempting hands. To make matters worse to Finn, she stretched her arms towards his neck to wrap, which made him miserably fail to move her from his body.

"I _knew_ you knew my favorites," Penny glanced down at the undies in his hands before turning her face to look down at him and moving it closer to his.

Fuck! His girlfriend was right. Penny was a loose cannon. No. Rachel had put it mildly. This girl was fucking psycho!

Finn tried his hardest to turn his face away from hers, thrashing his arms and legs in vain. His lips were merely quivering and his heart beats were pounding loudly by her appalling demeanors. Her sudden appearance creeped him out as fucking hell!

He wanted to scream 'help.' He really did. Yet, no sounds came from them because her death grip was compressing his neck and her big boobs were crushing his lungs. So, he moved his eyeballs restlessly to send an SOS for someone, anyone to help him out of the creepy school nurse.

While the other customers were throwing dirty looks down at them in disgust as they passed by in the crowded store, much to his relief, his desperate eyes caught ones of the sales assistants' who happened to have taught him as to what Cheekies were a little while before.

For his dear life, he mouthed 'help' and 'security' to her, pointing to the school nurse on top of him.

Thanks to the brief encounter with his girlfriend—or, nobody knew, for the assistant, only to want to eliminate one of her enemies against her boyfriend-to-be list—something seemed to ring a bell to her as Finn's expression caught her eyes. Finn saw her beckon the securities and give them a quick instruction to take the girl on top of Finn out of the store.

"I'm his girlfriend!" Penelope cried as the securities pulled her away from Finn.

"S-she's _**not**_!" Finn cried out from the floor, coughing.

The sales assistant shook her head to the large men sandwiching Penny, signaling that the girl was not as Finn had told.

Before the securities completely could kick Penelope out, the people in the store got into an uproar and the customers in the dressing rooms started to stick their heads out of the doors.

"Finny! Finny!" Penny's voice rang hollow in the store as she was forced to get out of the store.

"T-thanks," still coughing, Finn said to the assistant with relief, finally getting to his feet from the floor.

"It's my job," the assistant said, gently brushing dust off from Finn's clothes. "Being an attractive guy like you has a hard time sometimes, huh?" she winked at him and squeezed his arm. "I'm Amy, by the way," she fished her card out of her pocket, "feel free to contact me if you need any further assistance," she thrust it into his hand before walking away from him to report what had happened to her boss.

"Uh, thanks," Finn unconsciously put her card into his jeans pocket.

Not that Finn had understood what the assistant's intention was since he saw Rachel also poking her head through one of the fitting room doors. Her figure gave him much more relief and made his face form into a smile.

He needed to hold her, feel her in his arms right now.

To erase his nightmare in the daylight.

He shuddered, thinking about what had just happened to him.

He saw Rachel mouthing 'what's going on?' with a worried look at him. He gestured for her to be back into her dressing room with a waving hand and then he looked back over the store. There was still in a little hubbub. The sales assistants were gathering and discussing something (maybe how to deal with customers like Penelope).

Wait.

This was a once-in-a-life-time opportunity, wasn't it?

Now Finn knew where Rachel was in. Everyone in the store was distracted what had just happened.

Determined to sneak into Rachel's dressing room, Finn looked over the store once again.

He was going to feel her in his arms.

With or without her marshmallows (or gummy bear).

* * *

Rachel jumped startled when Finn snuck into the fitting room where she was taking off the yoga pants that she had tried on. "Finn!" she whisper-shouted, "you're not supposed to be here!"

Without a single word, Finn stretched his arms to pull her into him.

He hands on his chest, Rachel let him do whatever he wanted to for a moment despite she felt embarrassed since the lower half of her body was only in her panty. "Are you okay?" A few minutes later, she finally opened her mouth.

"I feel better now," Finn murmured against her hair.

"What happened over there?" Rachel asked.

"Penny Owen happened," Finn sighed before he led them to the corner of the room before sitting on a low stool and pulling her to sit on his lap.

"She followed you? Us?" Rachel gasped, scandalized. "I knew it, I knew it!" she hissed. "I got the feeling!"

"I guess she did, yeah," Finn rested his head against her chest, rubbing her smooth skin of the thigh. "You were right, Rach. She's a bad news," he started to fill her in on what had happened while she had been in the fitting room. "That scared shit out of me," he confessed.

"Poor baby," Rachel cooed, her fingers playing with his hair at the nape of his neck. "You should tell Ms. Beiste everything this coming Monday, including that she might have stolen your phone number from somewhere or someone," she suggested. "Do you think the shop assistants would speak up for you? About what happened?"

"Oh," Finn pulled himself away from Rachel before taking the card out of his pocket. "The assistant in the panties section? Who you saw over there? She gave me this saying she could help if I needed when Ms. Owen was kicked out," he handed it out to Rachel.

Rachel narrowed her eyes. She was sure that the assistant girl didn't give her card to her boyfriend for the purpose of what he was thinking. But, _'keep your friends close. Keep your enemies closer,'_ right? "Okay, I keep it for you," she smiled at him, snatching the card from his hand. "And you should also ask Noah to send someone to keep an eye on her. Her behavior could have a way of escalating."

"Shit!" Finn shot his head up. He was completely forgetting about Puck, who had told him to bring Rachel to the station with him before Biff McIntosh could come up there.

"Shhhhhh!" Rachel covered his mouth with her hand. "Or we'll be caught. And what now?" she asked in a hushed tone, staring at him with a frown.

At the exact moment, soft knocks came from the door. "Everything's okay?" some sales assistant asked through the door.

Rachel gestured for Finn to be quiet, placing her forefinger on her lips before motioning for him to hide in the blind spot from the door. Having seen him moving from the stool to the spot where she had instructed, Rachel half-opened the door, handing the yoga pants she had already tried on out to the assistant, politely asking her to bring her the smaller ones.

After the assistant had brought the yoga capri as she had been told, Rachel turned to face Finn. "Where were we?" she whispered.

Returning to the stool with her, Finn briefed her on what Burt had informed of Al Motta and his daughters, and the reason why the Mohawk had come to their apartment building. "So, Puck thought that you might be the last person who had seen her and wanted to question you about the details before Biff could confirm the identification of the dead body," he glanced at the time on his wrist. It was 20 min. to 11 am.

Rachel tilted her head to one side, pursing her lips for a moment. "All he does is only confirm? To claim the body? What about her dental record? DNA test? Could the police prolong the time to hand over the body?" she rattled off questions.

"How would I know the protocol, Rach? You're asking the wrong guy," Finn made a face, looking at her, wondering when she got to know about things like that.

"Then call him," Rachel demanded.

"My phone is broken, remember?" Finn whined.

Rachel sighed as she tore herself away from him before starting to rummage into her purse to find her phone.

Now Rachel's ass was in front of Finn. _Oh, she's wearing cheeky panty today!_ He thought. It reminded him why he had snuck into this room in the first place, unconsciously extending his arm to her backside.

Rachel spun around, feeling his hand on her butt. "Finn!" she admonished. "I told you not to do that here!" she whisper-shouted.

"But we've not had sex from Monday!" Finn whined. He tried to pull her into him, only to earn a slap from Rachel, which made him pout. "We don't need the stinky balm anymore," he murmured.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "If you can't restrain yourself from having sex only for three or four days, how can you hold yourself while I'm postpartum," Rachel cupped her mouth, realizing that she was getting ahead of herself.

Fortunately, Finn seemed to try to remember Puck's grumbling how the Mohawk had been putting up with no sex life after Quinn's childbirth.

In fact, Finn was remembering Puck's grumble. And that led him to daydream as to what was like mini Rachel running after Rusty in the living room, which made his mouth half-opened and almost drool.

"Anyway," Rachel cleared her throat to get his attention, "we have a lot on our plate right now. Here," she placed her cell phone out on Finn's palm.

"Right," Finn complied, scrolling down the screen of her phone to find his best friend's number.

"_Too late, Berry."_

"It's Finn," Finn said, "and what do you mean, 'too late'?"

Finn heard Puck's sigh. Then Puck informed that Biff McIntosh with his lawyer had appeared 8:30 in the morning. And when the detective squad tried to explain that DNA testing should be carrying since there was no dental record or finger prints, Biff insisted with tears that it would be disrespectful to the dead body despite he had confirmed its identification.

"_But my boss is a lazy ass. He gave his consent for the handing over before I could leave for work."_

"What?" Rachel, who had been putting her ear on the back of her phone, snatched it from Finn's hand. "But I've seen Sugar this morning again! You guys are useless!" she whisper-shouted angrily.

"_I can arrest you for obstructing officers from performing our duty, Berry. Besides, we've got our hands full, you know, other more serious affairs."_

Bickering for a while later, Rachel finally hung up the phone before turning to look at her boyfriend, her face still red from anger at the lazy police officers. _Now probing into the truth is my responsibility!_ She decided. "Let's get out of here," she declared, staring gathering her stuff from the floor, putting her skirt on.

"Babe," Finn pulled her into him again before she could be fully clothed, "you heard that, the case is closed." He puckered his lips up, hiking up her skirt, before he started pressing his lips to hers, hoping it would calm her _and_ lead to having sneaky sex in the fitting room.

"Finn, no," Rachel tried to push his face away from her own, shaking off his hand. "Finn! NO!" Rachel shouted before realizing how loud she had shouted.

It was, however, too late for her to shut her mouth close. Loud knocks came from the door and they got caught by two sales assistants before they were forced to leave the dressing room and the shop.

After Finn had had to pay for two G-strings, one Cheekie, and a pair of yoga pants with his credit card, of course.

* * *

While Finn felt disappointed with the dressing room fiasco, Rachel felt embarrassed and slightly hurt at the same time. Because, though she was relieved that her sunglasses kept in her purse had saved her from receiving from the disgusted looks that the people in the store had been sporting, nobody had seemed to recognize who she was—Rachel Barbra Berry, a rising star on Broadway. But, nothing she could do. It was not like all New Yorkers were willing to go see the shows on Broadway.

Rachel straightened up, shaking he embarrassment and her wounded feelings off, before stretching her arm into the striped pink shopping bag in her boyfriend's hand.

"What're you doing?" Finn asked confused.

Ignoring his question, Rachel took the cheeky panty out of the bag. "Hold it here," she thrust it into Finn's other hand before rummaging her portable sewing kit into her purse and removing the price tag from the panty.

"W-what're you doing?" dumbfounded, seeing her try to shove the cheeky panty into the back pocket of his jeans, Finn asked again stammered.

"To warm it up, silly," Rachel answered matte-of-factly.

"But what for?" Finn looked over the street, making sure that they weren't getting any attention from anybody.

"You'll see," Rachel rubbed his arm up and down. "So?" she tried to change the subject.

"So what?"

"Did you come to realize why I've been mad at you?" Rachel asked, snuggling into his side, putting her hand into the same back pocket as the cheeky panty was stored.

"Uh, yes?" Finn answered absent-mindedly. Too many things going around in his head, he had not focused on the reason why.

"Then explain," Rachel demanded as they kept walking back to the hotel.

"Explain what?" Finn said stupidly.

Rachel rolled her eyes. Her boyfriend really had to listen to her, or the others for that matter. "Why have you kept the kiss with Quinn from me for so long?"

"Oh," that was why she had been mad at him, Finn thought. "So, you're not jealous?" fidgeted, Finn quietly asked, looking down at his girlfriend.

"It doesn't matter whether I got jealous or not, Finn," Rachel pinched his arm.

"Ouch," Finn jumped a little.

"So?" Rachel repeated.

Finn sighed before he started the story as to how he had ended up sharing a kiss with Quinn. That was the time right after Jenny had revealed her secret and they had broken up. Naturally, the rumor had spread like wildfire, which had harmed his popularity in the school. At that time, the glee club had been lack of funds for the members to go to the Sectional. Finn had come up with an idea of running a kissing booth, to regain his self-confidence and raise money for the glee club at the same time.

Sadly, throughout his running the booth, no girls had shown up to him, which had made him completely humiliated. Quinn, he didn't know whether or not she had been unable to stand by any longer, had approached him at the last minute, and put a dollar bill down on the booth, then kissed him (which had caused her in trouble because her then boyfriend had gotten furious).

"I felt useless for the glee club, and you know, humiliated more than ever," Finn finished.

"You should've told me," Rachel said in a sad tone. "You know that I've experienced that kind of humiliation as much as you have," _or worse_, she mentally added.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry," Finn pressed his lips to her hair.

Finn wouldn't be lying if he said he hadn't grown his feelings for her at that time, but he had decided to stay away from her instead he had been in trouble too.

"So she was being nice to you," Rachel said, examining her boyfriend's face. "I would have a crush on her. Would you?" Finn seemed shocked at her accuracy. "You did," she concluded before something hit her. "Oh my Gosh, do you still have feelings for her? That's why you didn't tell me, isn't it?" she gasped, pulling her hand from his pocket, and herself away from him.

Finn had been afraid that she would be overreacting like now.

"No, no, baby, no!" He grabbed her arm to stop her from rushing into the hotel and made her look at him, putting his hands on her shoulders, bending over to the same eye level. "You and Quinn are friends now and I just didn't want you to be worried. That's it," he tried to soothe her, rubbing her arms up and down. "You know that I'm madly in love with you, Rach," he cupped her face in his hands before gently pressing his lips to hers. "I love you, Rachel, more than anything."

Still upsetting, but Rachel wrapped her arms around his torso, leaning her head against his chest. "I love you too, Finn, so much," she murmured.

"So, you forgive me?" Finn asked against her hair.

Rachel nodded in his chest, letting out a content sigh. When she pulled her face from his chest, her eyes caught the figure of the Jewfro. Which made her remember what she had to do now. "Finn?" she looked at him, "would you just go over there?" she pointed to the lounge space in the lobby, "I've got to talk to the hotel clerk," with that, she made her way over to the front desk.

A few minutes later, Rachel walked into the lounge and asked Finn to stand up from the arm chair. Then she pulled the cheeky panty from his pocket. "Wait here for a couple more minutes," she said, leaving before he could say anything to her.

A couple more minutes later, she returned to the place where Finn had been waiting. She shot him a big, mischievous smile at him, holding a spare card key up in front of his face. And she cheerfully announced. "Let's go!" she pulled him to get out of the arm chair.

"Finally! You're giving me your gummy bear and marshmallows!" Finn ginned, misunderstanding, taking her hand in his own.

"We'll save it for later, Finn," Rachel said, making a beeline for the elevator.

"What?" Finn looked at her with a frown. "Where's your panty anyway?" realizing that his girlfriend didn't have it in her hand, he asked in a hushed tone.

"I gave it to the Jewfro," Rachel answered nonchalantly.

"What? Why?"

"To exchange for this?" Rachel triumphantly showed the spare card key in front of his face again as they got into the elevator. Then she pressed the button of the 15th floor.

"For what? Did you lose your room key?" confused, Finn asked.

"I didn't lose my room key," she took her key from her purse. "See? Besides, I'm staying in a room on the 17th floor."

"Then where're we going? Have you reserved a separate room for me? Aren't you going to allow me to stay in the same room?" Finn still had no idea what Rachel was going to do with the spare key that she had gotten in exchange for the panty.

Rachel giggled, but said nothing, before getting out of the elevator. Then she motioned for him to come with her in the left direction. "Finn, come this way," she whispered, looking around the empty corridor.

Although he had a bad feeling in his stomach, Finn walked in her way.

Rachel stopped in front of one of the rooms on the 15th floor before looking up at Finn, gesturing for him to be quiet. Then she inserted the key and wrenched the door open slowly.

"Who is staying–"

"Shush," Rachel cut him off as she entered the room.

Finn reluctantly followed her to walk into, only until he bumped into the back of her tiny body. "Ow, I'm so–"

"Oh my God!" Rachel widened her eyes, cupping her mouth shocked.

"What–" Finn stopped himself from speaking.

He saw a body.

A male body face-downing on the floor.

Beside the bed.

"Oh my God," Finn gasped. "W-what are we supposed to do?"

Rachel stumbled into Finn's side, clasping his sleeve tightly in her hands. "W-we're going to check on him first," she swallowed thickly. She was now shaking. This was beyond the time when she had found Mrs. Weston face-downing on the floor. "You know, whether he's still alive or not, and, and, call the police," she managed to finish as she pushed Finn in the direction.

"Me?" Finn squeaked, asking dumbfoundedly.

Rachel nodded, gesturing for him to approach the body.

Finn had never expected this when he had left his, correction, _their_ apartment this morning.

One thing was for sure.

This was going to be a long day for Rachel and him.

* * *

**Please review :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thank you for reading my story and for the responses!**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Glee and its characters, and any resemblance to real persons or organizations is purely coincidental.**

* * *

_"W-what're we supposed to do?"_

"_W-we're going to check on him first. You know, whether he's still alive or not, and, and, call the police."_

**Friday, November 27, 2015 Part III**

Finn stumbled, being jostled by Rachel towards the body. "Me?" Flustered, his voice went a register higher.

Rachel nodded before pushing the back of him again, seeing Finn hesitating about stepping forwards. "Finn, hurry," she demanded with a wave of her hand.

Finn rubbed the back of his neck before slowly approaching the guy, who was lying face down beside the bed, clad in a white bathrobe, his cell phone in his right hand. He swallowed thickly as he crouched down. He knew that his hands were slightly vibrating, his mouth going dry. He couldn't help it. He had never touched dead bodies before!

Well, only if the body were dead.

Finn took a deep breath and seized the lying body by the wrist to feel the pulse. He gasped before quickly tearing his hand away from it. "Rach, uh, I-I don't feel," he stammered, looking up at Rachel, "his pulse." He shut his eyes close and inhaled and exhaled deeply twice. Then he turned the body around in order to perform CPR, summoning his teacher mode, recalling that he had done a lifesaving drill at the school so many times.

"W-what're you doing?" Rachel breathed, surprised.

"CPR," Finn responded, placing his both hands on the chest of the guy to compress, then looked up at his girlfriend. "Rachel, call 9-1-1," he yelled as he stopped his hands before trying mouth-to-mouth breathing.

When he resumed compressing, he lightly shook his head seeing Rachel standing shocked at the place. So he turned his upper body toward the night table to press the phone button which would go straight to the reception.

"I've got an unconscious guy here," Finn shouted in the phone's direction as soon as the front clerk answered. "Send someone here with AED, and call 9-1-1!" he said as he kept performing CPR.

The reason Rachel was standing there doing nothing was not because she was shocked by the possibility of which the guy might be dead. She was just astonished by her boyfriend's quick adaptation from an (adorable) awkward guy to a superhero in front of her.

Rachel had never witnessed Finn throwing down his multitasking skills other than him with his drums and him in bed with her.

Yes. She got tunred on.

Rachel knew that it was inappropriate for her to think about that kind of thing right now. But she couldn't help it. If they had been under different circumstances, she was sure that she would have literally jumped on him.

Her daydreams, however, came to be short-lived since the hotel staff including the general manager showed up at the room and the GM demanded a clear cut answer from Rachel as to why she and the CPR guy (Finn) were in the room to begin with.

Undaunted by the GM's too courtesy manner, Rachel straightened herself before answering. "The guest staying here? Ms. Applebee? She told–"

Finn, coming off CPR duty, cut Rachel off, dragging her into the corner of the room before she could finish her sentence. "Would you give us a minute, sir?" He said apologetically over his shoulder to the GM, who just shrugged.

"What're you doing?" Finn said in a hushed tone, placing his hands on her shoulders, bending down, getting to her same eye level.

"I can't tell the truth, Finn!" Rachel whisper-shouted before looking down at the floor fidgeted. "Otherwise, I may be arrested and pressed charged," she added in a low voice.

Finn groaned, rubbing his face tiredly. "Rach, we can't be bothered whether or not you, I mean, we'll be charged with trespassing or something," he tried to get her to be rational.

"But Jacob could be fired!" Rachel retorted. "And he would have a grudge against me, EVER!" she tried to convey her best puppy eyes at her boyfriend. "You should know that he's a male version of Penelope!"

Finn let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand through his hair. "Rachel," he grabbed her shoulders again. "This is not a time for worrying about yourself or your secret lover! Lying is not gonna work. Besides, there're tons of security cameras in the hallway. They'll know we snuck into the room sooner or later," he warned.

Damn, Finn! He was sooooo… hot! Especially when he reprimanded as if she were one of his students!

But that was beside the point right now.

Rachel cleared her throat, shaking her thoughts off. "Fine, I'll tell him the truth," she complied with her boyfriend's demand. "But don't you dare call Jacob like that, especially in front of him," she shuddered to picture the Jewfro following her like a shadow from now on claiming that he owed her.

Despite that fact that the GM was clearly and understandably displeased with the arrangement between Rachel and his one of the employees, Jacob Ben Israel, much to Rachel's relief, the GM seemed to decide to pass over this time.

On one condition; they shouldn't breathe a word of the key-panty exchange (unless the guest of the room would want to prosecute). The hotel didn't want this to make public since Rachel was not entirely at fault, Jacob was too (of course he got fired on the spot). Plus, finding the guy falling down on the floor would have caused delay much longer if Rachel hadn't snuck into the room.

And as soon as the police, forensics and paramedics arrived, they started to stir round in the room. While they were taking care of the body lying down on the floor and making a thorough investigation of the causes of the accident, two of the officers got to work on questioning Rachel and Finn.

"You guys should be careful when you take a call on your phone while it's still plugged in and charging," one of the officers with a weird mustache and glasses said at the end of the interview. "This kind of accident has been reported a lot recently."

"Is he dead? Electrocuted?" Rachel asked.

"Unfortunately he is," the mustache officer answered, his eyes following the dead body taken out in a stretcher.

"Was that an accident?" this time was Finn who asked.

The officer nodded. "It looks like he broke his ribs, but that's because you performed CPR," he smiled at Finn.

"Oh," fidgeted, Finn shifted on the sofa.

"It happens, Mr. Hudson. You did the right thing," The mustache officer assured. "And there's no sign of foul play, given our inspection," he concluded, writing down something in his notepad, before looking up at them to ask. "Did you know him? Biff McIntosh?"

"What?" Rachel widened her eyes before exchanging looks with Finn.

Rachel knew that the room had been reserved and paid for three nights online under the name of Mr. McIntosh and the person who had checked in might be Sugar Applebee (although Jacob had informed her that her first name was not Sugar but Cherie). She had gotten to know that when exchanging her panty for the spare key.

"He's not Mr. McIntosh. I _know_ he's not because Biff McIntosh is my neighbor and this guy is not the one I've met! And, and, I also know that he made his appearance at the police station in Bronx at 8:30 this morning. If you don't believe me, ask Noah Puckerman at 40th precinct," Rachel desperately complained.

"I can guarantee she's telling the truth, officer," Finn assisted, nodding. "We're living together and I've met Biff McIntosh too."

"Maybe they just share the same name?" the officer shrugged.

"I don't believe that," Rachel insisted. "You should ask the women staying in this room too, and you'll find that electrocuted guy is _not_ Biff McIntosh!"

"But he had his passport in the inner pocket of his suit," the younger officer chimed in, holding up the dead guy's belongings in a plastic bag in the air to show Rachel and Finn. "We're gonna authenticate his fingerprints at the immigration examination, so you'll see."

Rachel could see a wallet, a watch, and an Irish Passport in it—the Biff McIntosh who she knew of had an US one if she remembered correctly. She frowned.

"Alright, miss. 40th precinct Noah Puckerman, huh?" the older officer with mustache wrote down in his notepad. "Now both of you can go home, but," he shifted his gaze from the notepad to the couple on the sofa, "you may have to be questioned again." Then Rachel and Finn were urged by the young officer to leave the room.

Despite that they could get away with anything from the hotel room, they, especially Rachel, harbored some pent-up emotion.

* * *

On account of Rachel's stubbornness—she had insisted on taking a shower to calm her nerve from the long morning—Finn decided to go to the nearest Apple Store alone.

"Rachel," Finn called out, leaning against the bathroom door, "I gotta go now. But before I go, I have to–"

"Wait," Rachel cut him off, turning off the shower before sticking her head out of the curtain, "I want to come with you!"

"But I know it'll take some time for you getting ready," Finn complained as he made his way over to the toilet seat.

"Why don't you join me here?" Rachel stretched her arm through the shower curtain, trying to reach him. But she drew her head away from the curtain and turned on the shower as soon as she figured why he entered the bathroom to begin with. "Finn! How many times do I have to tell you not to use the toilet while I'm having a shower!" She yelled.

"It's not my fault that you having a long shower, babe," Finn yelled back at her while he was urinating. "Besides, I'm just taking a leak, not dropping a deuce."

"You're disgusting," Rachel murmured as she made lather with shampoo.

"And as for your offer," Finn said flushing the toilet, "very tempting," he approached the bathtub before pulling the shower curtain enough to peek inside.

"Finn!" Rachel whipped her head toward her boyfriend, stopping her hands from washing her hair, "you didn't wash your hands!" She stepped backward in an attempt to escape from his unwashed hands reaching for her.

"Fine," Finn whined, turned around away from her to wash his hand. "I'll take a rain check anyway," he said, looking at her in the mirror.

"You were so persistent at Victoria's Secret this morning," Rachel murmured, slightly disappointed in her tone.

Finn whirled around, grinning at her, drying his hands with a towel. "I'll be back before you know it. Then we'll have fun, _a lot_," he said with a lopsided grin, putting the towel away, before stepping closer the bathtub again.

"We have to check out by three, Finn," Rachel gripped the side hem of the shower curtain, hiding her naked body from him. "We don't have time to have that kind of fun," she reminded him that the hotel manager permitted to push their check-out time back from 12 pm to 3 pm but there was only an hour left. "Besides, I don't like you to be alone. What if Penelope still followed you? You wanna take my rape whistle? It's in my purse!"

"You're still carrying a rape whistle?" Finn threw his head backward with laughter before cupping her face with his both hands. "Don't you think you should change to more practical products?"

"What? You're saying that I should be carrying a taser or something?"

"That would be great, but," Finn still chuckled, caressing her cheeks with his thumbs, "I don't think you're allowed to buy one. So, I'll think about substitutes for both of us," he fondly pushed her wet shampooed hair on her forehead aside. "Until then, keep carrying your whistle with you. I'll be fine without any," he gave her a chaste kiss on her lips before emerging out of the bathroom. "I'll call you first when I get a new number," he said over his shoulder, "so answer your phone even if it's a withheld number."

"Okay," Rachel sighed. "Don't be long!" She yelled in his direction before resuming her shower.

* * *

Having freshened up from the shower, Rachel impatiently waited for her boyfriend in the hotel room. It had been almost an hour and a half since Finn was out to get a new iPhone and a new number. She had gotten several calls from the reception to not-so-subtly press her to check out.

Rachel sighed, picking Ms. Bonaparte up from the bed to adjust in the carrier. "Rusty," she called in the direction where the dog was resting. As Rusty rushed into the bedroom, she knelt down to put the leash around the neck of him. Then she started busying herself with packing her luggage.

That was the moment when Rachel realized that Finn might have left the shopping bag of Victoria's Secret in the room two floors down.

Rachel groaned before looking down at her dog. "Be a good boy for a minute, I'm gonna get the bag downstairs."

Figuring the elevators wouldn't arrive soon enough for her liking, Rachel decided to use the escape stairs to go down to the 15th floor. She looked over the elevator foyer to find the exit sign, then she walked over to the corner of the foyer to open the thick heavy iron door.

When Rachel stepped down the stairs, she came to a halt, hearing someone's voice from downstairs. No, some _people_, the _plural_. A female's and a male's voices. On top of that, their voices were so familiar.

"_I don't know!"_ A woman whisper-shouted.

"_You don't know? You don't know?"_ A man mocked in an accusing tone.

"_Yeah, didn't I say so?"_ The woman's voice turned to be defiant. _"I really don't know what happened. They were already in there when I got back!"_

"_Are you sure that they didn't see you?"_

"_I just turned back pretending to forget something behind before they could call me to stop,"_ the woman got into a huff._ "You should think that luck is coming our way. The last guy whom we had to deal with left us alone! You should also thank my quick thinking of which I had switched his belongings with yours, you know, __**that**__ passport included, when I went out this morning," _she sounded off.

"Well, yeah–"

**Prrrrrrrr, prrrrrrrr–**

Oh shit!

Rachel hastily pulled her phone out of her skirt pocket, thinking that Finn was the one to call her since it wasn't truetone or ringtone.

**Prrrrrrrr, prrrrrrrr–**

Shit! Shit, shit, shit! Why now? Why the hell he chose to call her at this time?

Rachel hurriedly turned off the phone and held her breath. She felt that the people who had been having the weird conversation downstairs stopped talking and pricked up their ears.

Her legs were shaking, wondering if she was correct as to whom they were and they found her. She had to get out of there. Like right now.

Rachel tried to compose herself before narrowly managing to emerge from the escape stairs and going back to her hotel room. Her heart almost hit her throat.

She didn't know how long she had held her breath. She leaned her head against the door and took a deep breath. Then she looked over the hallway through the peephole.

Luckily they didn't seem to chase after her.

Rachel let out a relieved sigh and looked down at Rusty, who looked back at her quizzically. She crouched down to pick him up to comfort herself.

* * *

"You're sure that they were really _them_?" Finn asked again as they entered their apartment building. Since he was disappointed with the fact that he had left the Victoria's Secret shopping bag in another McIntosh guy's room—though he had paid for the G-strings (and her yoga pants) in addition to the accommodation fee!—he didn't pay much attention to what Rachel had overheard in the escape stairs.

"I have good ears, you know that!" Rachel huffed, feeling insulted. She was a really really good singer. All the good singers had great ears! "Hello, Nikolay," she greeted the doorman who was getting the front door for them.

"Ms. Berry, Mr. Hudson," the doorman smiled at them, nodding.

When they were going to get into the elevator, Rachel stopped and turned her head around to look at the doorman.

"Nikolay," Rachel called out as she turned back toward the doorman still standing by the front door. "May I ask something?"

"Sure, Ms. Berry," Nikolay nodded, circling the doorman's desk.

"Do you happen to know that Mr. McIntosh at home now?"

"Mr. McIntosh moved out this morning," the doorman replied with a thick Russian accent before adding, "I'm really sorry to hear that his wife has passed away by the way."

"He moved out?" Rachel frowned. "Do you know what time it was? Before he went to identify his wife at the police station? Or after he came back to the building?" she fire questioned.

"I didn't know that he was going to the police station, but he moved out before my shift. So, it was before 7:00," Nikolay informed.

"Who was–" Rachel held her tongue, something bothering her. "Wait," she beckoned her boyfriend to come over to her. "You knew his wife was passed away? How did you know that?"

Finn approached Rachel, throwing a weird look at her.

"Phillip was working on the night shift until my shift started this morning, told me that Mr. McIntosh had told him so when he had moved out of the apartment."

Rachel folded her arms, dropping her gaze onto the ground. Phillip, one of the other doormen, already knew that Sugar Motta had deceased? Before Biff McIntosh could identify the dead body at the police station?

That was weird.

"Uh, did he leave the new address when he moved out? Do you know where he was moving to?" Rachel asked again, glancing at Finn with a frown.

"I'm afraid I don't, Ms. Berry," Nikolay sounded sincere.

Rachel nodded understandably. "Thank you, Nikolay, anyway. It really helped."

"Uh, I'm glad to be of service," Nikolay replied, not knowing what exactly had helped.

Rachel opened her mouth again as she and Finn walked into their apartment. "That's weird, don't you think?" She took the leash off the neck of Rusty.

"I wasn't in a half part of the conversation," Finn looked at her with a quizzical look, taking the cat out of the carrier. "What's weird? Enlighten me," he said as he walked into the kitchen to take two bags of potato chips from the cabinet.

Rachel told him the whole conversation with the doorman as she followed him into the kitchen. "Finn, something is wrong," she finished, pulling out a bowl from the cupboard. "I think we'd better call Noah to come home as soon as he can," she said handing the bowl out to Finn.

"Hmm," Finn responded as he reluctantly took the bowl from her before opening the bags of chips and pouring the chips into it.

"He's gonna stay another night here, right?" Rachel took a bottle of beer from the fridge and passed it to him.

"I think so, yeah," Finn returned to the living room, the beer and the bowl full of chips in his hands, "I don't think Quinn's gonna forgive him that easily," he chuckled recalling how livid the Mohawk's wife had been, how frightened Puck had gotten (though he had been trying to ass-save since Quinn left the Hudson-Hummel apartment) as he perched himself on the sofa.

"Where's Sam, by the way," Rachel asked as she emerged out of the kitchen before grabbing her luggage to put away in the bedroom.

"I got him to go home before I went to the hotel this morning. He should talk to Mercedes," Finn turned on the TV with the clicker, putting his legs up on the coffee table. "It wasn't that hard to persuade, you know, he's newly engaged after all," he started channel-surfing, wondering when he could become newly engaged.

"And if you want to know, Kurt's out to pick his more stuff from Blaine's apart–, I mean, their apartment," Finn glanced up at the wall clock. "And considering that it's Black Friday today, he won't be home any time soon, I guess."

"I doubt that Kurt would ever have an itch to get something in a sale," Rachel said, making her way over to the bedroom. "Besides, if you want to get something on Black Friday, you need to camp out beforehand," she pointed out over her shoulder. "Maybe that was his code that he was gonna talk to Blaine," she concluded. "So, what do you think?" she asked as she returned to the living room to pick up the pet carriers from the floor.

"Huh?" Finn replied absent-mindedly, still undecided what to watch.

"Mr. McIntosh," Rachel repeated, returning to the bedroom with the carriers. "Don't you think something is going on?" she asked, poking her head through the bedroom door.

"Yeah," Finn grabbed handful chips from the bowl, stuffing them into his mouth, before munching furiously. "But there's nothing we can do now. Puck told us that he would stop at later. So, take our time until he comes, " he said pausing his hand as he found _The Simpsons_ marathon on FXX before sitting back into the back of the sofa.

"Okay," Rachel drew up her head from the bedroom door before changing her clothes into her _old_ yoga pants.

* * *

"Berry," Puck sighed shaking his head. "Are you aware that you violated a law?" he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Twice," Finn murmured, taking a big bite and munching a slice of pepperoni pizza which Puck had bought on the way to their apartment from the Midtown North Precinct. "Ow," he rubbed his arm where Rachel had just elbowed, "What I said was true, Rach!"

"Fine, I've snuck into Mr. McIntosh's apartment too," Rachel admitted. "But," Rachel held her hand up in the air to have the Mohawk not open his mouth, "they made it clear that they would grant me immunity unless the girl who checked in the room presses charges."

"Speaking of that girl," Puck leaned forward, "nobody can get hold of her," he informed. "Lieutenant Shor, the old dude with a mustache? He said that the girl never returned to the hotel."

"Actually she did," Rachel triumphantly said.

Puck arched his eyebrow.

"You're gonna love what I overheard!" Rachel clapped her hands. Then she told Puck what she had overheard in the escape stairs in addition to the encounter with Sugar McIntosh in the morning when she last had seen her, the story of which the doorman had told her, and what she had seen in Mr. McIntosh's apartment and his demeanors.

"So, you're saying that Biff McIntosh is having an affair with Sugar Applebee?" Puck asked, slapping Finn's hand to get the last piece of pizza. "My treat, so it's mine!"

"You're crashing on my couch," Finn shook the Mohawk's hand off, "you owe me, so it's mine!"

"Children, _please_," Kurt, who had been very quiet since he got back to the apartment, finally opened his mouth, shaking his head before continuing poking at his salad with his fork tines.

"No, I mean, I doubt that she's Sugar Applebee," Rachel said, wiping the stains of pizza sauce around her boyfriend's chin with a paper napkin. "I don't know how Sugar Applebee sounds, but I know how Sugar McIntosh sounds. She's Sugar McIntosh."

"But Sugar McIntosh killed herself, remember?" Puck retorted, folding his arms across his chest, sitting back into the chair in a sulk, glaring at his best friend's munching the last piece of pizza in a joyous manner.

"Thanks to your boss's and your delinquency," Rachel mumbled before looking into the Mohawk eyes. "Judging by the old pictures of the two Sugars, they really look alike. If the police did a DNA testing, you would've found out that she was not Sugar McIntosh!"

"You just said that the two Sugars looked alike," Puck dismissed. "They say that similar features resemble their vocal codes. You must have mistaken and misheard Applebee for McIntosh."

Rachel huffed, blowing her bangs, her arms crossing. "You and Finn really underrate my talent!"

"Babe, it's not like that," Finn draped his arm over her shoulder, pressing his lips to her temple to calm her. "I just don't understand why Biff confirmed the identification of the dead body as his wife, if the woman you had seen a couple of times and overheard is not Sugar Applebee. And who was that electrocuted guy anyway? Why Sugar whoever had the passport printed Biff McIntosh concealed into his suit?"

"Money," Kurt bluntly said.

Surprised at his tone, the other three turned their head to see Kurt.

"Love doesn't last unless money endures," Kurt held his hand up in the air, seeing Rachel opening her mouth to retort. "I'm not saying that you mistook Applebee for McIntosh. I'm just saying that the fact that two Sugars and two Biffs exists smells something," he turned to look at the police officer. "You should check the financial situations, of all of them, Puck. Al Motta was a wealthy man. He must have left a large fortune to his daughter, or daughters, I don't know. Which means, Biff can inherit his wife's money." With that, Kurt got out of the arm chair, walking into the kitchen with his plate and utensils to wash.

Rachel frowned, sensing there was something off about her best friend. "You guys want another beer?" She asked, looking back at her boyfriend and his best friend at the table. "I'm gonna get some," she said as she stood up from the sofa before making her way to the kitchen.

"Kurt? What's wrong?"

Kurt let out a sigh as he put the plate and utensils into the dish washer. "We are over," he said in a low voice, not bothering to look at his best friend. "I broke up with him."

"Oh, Kurt," Rachel hugged him. "Barbra Streisand marathon? Karaoke? I'm all yours tomorrow," she pulled herself away from him. "And you can stay here as long as you want, you know."

"Thank you, Rachel," Kurt hugged her back before walking out of the kitchen. "I'm going to bed. Barbra marathon would be great," he gave her a tight smile before turning around.

"O-okay," was all she could say, seeing his best friend disappearing into the guest room.

* * *

"Rachel, what's wrong?" Finn asked as he heard his girlfriend let out a sigh again.

"Kurt," Rachel climbed onto the bed after emerging out of the bathroom. "They broke up," she informed.

"That's why he looked grumpy a bit," Finn nodded as he took off his glasses and put it away to the night table with his school documents.

"You guys are going to bowl tomorrow, right?" Rachel asked, sliding herself under the duvet. "I'm going to watch Barbra Streisand's movies with him tomorrow. And maybe _Callbacks_ at night. Is that okay with you?"

"Uh, yeah," Finn reluctantly affirmed. "But you'll be all mine on Sunday," he pulled her into him, "okay?"

"More than okay," she said, placing her hands on his chest, "you're gonna take me out on Sunday? To where?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out," Finn threw his lopsided grin at her. But soon he frowned as his girlfriend didn't seem as inquisitive as usual. "What's bothering you?" He asked threading his fingers through her hair.

"I don't know, but I feel sad," Rachel sighed. "I mean, I thought that Kurt and Blaine were really great together, but they didn't last. Then two Sugars and Biffs. If Noah was correct, or their relationships were money involved as Kurt said–" she held her tongue, closing her eyes, feeling his gentle fingers.

"If you're still upset about me saying it wrong? I'm really sorry," Finn pressed his lips to her forehead. "I didn't mean that, you know."

"I know you didn't mean it," Rachel opened her eyes and gave him a reassured smile. But honestly, she would be lying if she said that she didn't feel antsy thinking 'what ifs.' What if Finn broke up with her someday? She had been living in this apartment building since she was a freshman in NYADA. She could never move back to the next door (even though their neighbor had moved out) if he broke up with her.

Rachel shook her head, trying to let go of the negative thoughts. Then she turned away from Finn to turn off the light on the night table.

Finn frowned. "Rachel, this is our apartment, our home, you know that right?" He whispered against her hair, wrapping his arm around her tiny body.

"I know," Rachel placed her hand on his, squeezing it. "Good night, Finny," she said closing her eyes. Suddenly exhaustion took its toll on her.

"Night, babe," Finn responded before adding, pulling her body closer into him. "I love you, Rachel," he kissed the back of her head.

"I love you too," Rachel's voice was hardly audible.

Finn stared at the back of her head for a while.

He had to propose to her, _fast_.

And it was supposed to be on Sunday.

* * *

**Please review :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thank you for reading my story and for the responses! I believe that most of you guys have watched the movie **_**'The Way We Were,'**_** but in case there are some who never have, I have to apologize beforehand that I'm going to spoil some scene of the movie in this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Glee and its characters, and any resemblance to real persons or organizations is purely coincidental.**

* * *

**Saturday, November 28, 2015**

As she and Finn were getting back to their apartment building from the dog park in the morning, Rachel saw Puck about to leave for work.

"Noah, wait," Rachel called out across the street to stop Puck from walking away from the building. She looked both ways to traverse before approaching the Mohawk, her hand in Finn's, the other hand gripping the leash of Rusty. "I forgot to mention one more matter last night," she said as she climbed the curb.

"Of course you did," Puck murmured petulantly as he turned around to face the couple.

"I don't appreciate your tone, but I'm ignoring it," Rachel huffed. "Anyway," she cleared her throat, "could you have someone tail the creepy girl named Penelope Owen? It seems more highly that she's stalking my Finny." Then she quickly briefed what the school nurse had caused Finn trouble so far.

"I'm not your personal servant or Huddy's, Berry," Puck crossed his arm in front of his chest. "Put things in the proper procedure," with that, he was going to walk away from the couple and the dog.

"You don't get it," Rachel yelled, yanking the arm of Puck, "it would be more hazardous if we leave the situation as it is," she whipped her head toward her boyfriend, "right, Finny?" She turned her head to the Mohawk, smiling triumphantly, seeing Finn nodded furiously. "See? Why don't you send someone to the 57th store to ask this sales assistant?" She said, pulling a business card out of her skirt pocket. "Someone'd better be cute, you know, sexy kind of way, like–" she tapped her lips with her forefinger, thinking. "Oh, like your half brother? Jake? Is he a police officer too, isn't he?"

"Whoa," Finn whipped his head, looking down at his girlfriend dumbfoundedly. "You think Jake is sexy?"

"Of course he is. He is my own flesh and blood," Puck smirked before Rachel could open her mouth.

"Yeah, right," Rachel rolled her eyes. "Sans that stupid Mohawk, possibly," she snorted before adding. "But I doubt it."

"Sans clothes, I'm a fucking stud," Puck thrust his hip forward, ignoring Rachel's last comment (and gagging).

"You think Jake is cute?" Finn repeated in disbelief.

Rachel turned to look up at her boyfriend. "I didn't mean that, Finny. He's kind of a womanizer. That's what I meant. I just thought that the sales assistant could get on well with Jake, that's it," she said, zipping his quilted down coat up, adjusting the collar. "I'm most certainly not a fan of his. You know that you're the hottest guy in this planet and the best thing that ever happened to me," she caressed his cheek before she cupped his neck with a hand, pulling his face down to her, pressing her lips on his, oblivious to the presence of the Mohawk.

As Finn was going to deepen the kiss, Puck (of course) interrupted them. "Oh man, keep it PG, bro," he shook his head, scrunching his nose. "I can see another leash around Huddy's neck. I expected you to end up on a leash by someone bossy like her though."

"Says the guy who got kicked out by his wife twice in a span of a few weeks," Finn nudged his best friend's shoulder.

"Boys, focus," Rachel snapped her fingers to get their attention before turning to face Puck, her hand on her hip. "So? Send him or what?" She bossed. "You know, the shop assistant seemed like _easy_. I think Jake would _love_ to meet her," she smiled smugly.

"Fine, I'll talk to him," Puck complied with a sigh, fully aware that Rachel was going to keep nagging him, before snatching the business card of the shop girl from Rachel's hand.

"Don't think you hit on her before Jake," Rachel warned seriously, "or you'll ever regret it."

"I'm not that dumb," Puck retorted before mumbling, "mind your business though."

"You aren't coming to the alley today, by the way?" Finn chimed in, remembering that he had once said he would come.

"I have some shit to take care of this morning," Puck rubbed his Mohawk tiredly. "But I can make it, I suppose," he said over his shoulder, walking away from them (finally).

"Alright, then see you there at 1," Finn yelled at the back of his best friend.

"Please tell Jake what I said!" Rachel pressed.

But All Rachel got from Puck was a middle finger.

* * *

Emerging out of the bedroom for go out, Finn had to witness his girlfriend and his stepbrother so engrossed in the TV screen where pregnant _Katie_ was telling _Hubbell_ in the preview room that she knew what happened between him and his collage girlfriend/his best friend's ex-wife _Carol_. He wouldn't ever understand; why did chicks (and his stepbrother) want to watch heartbroken movies of their own accord when they got brokenhearted in their real life?

He had learned a lesson from the last time he had happened to have to watch _Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind_ instead of _The Hangover_. He had sworn to himself, he never ever was going to watch a sad ending shit when he got heartbroken or depressed (and he also had sworn to never insert DVD disks into the player without verifying the titles on them).

"I gotta go," Finn called out, passing by them sitting side by side on the sofa, tissue boxes (yes, plural) prepared on the coffee table. He saw both of them turning their heads toward him at once (of course after pressing the pausing button of the clicker). Their eyes already got misty and the expressions on their faces were as if they were going to be abandoned by _him_.

Finn felt uncalled-for guilt, scratching the back of his head, approaching the sofa, undecided to kiss his girlfriend or not since he didn't want to showcase their relationship on Kurt's face. "Um–," he got tongue tied.

"Do you know what time you're coming home?" Rachel opened her mouth, noticing that Finn might hesitate to kiss her in front of his heartbroken brother. "Will you be eating at home tonight?"

"We haven't decided yet," Finn rubbed his chin, "We might be going to Sam's bar though."

"Why don't you guys come to join us at _Callbacks_?" Kurt suggested.

"What time are you two getting to there?" Finn asked in response.

"Around 8, I suppose," Kurt replied, glancing at Rachel to seek her approval.

"Yeah," Rachel nodded, "we may be going there after dinner here."

One arm across his chest, the other hand underneath his chin, Finn took his time to think for a moment.

Usually, he didn't tag along with them to _Callbacks_. Sure, he used to sing in front of people in high school because of the glee club. And he loved to sing still. He was a music teacher after all.

But Karaoke was a different story. Especially, _Callbacks_. It was specifically a piano bar (but installed Karaoke system too), in which there were a bunch of people who were grads from prestigious art and fashion schools in New York City (like Rachel and Kurt) and most of them became successful and professional (again, like Rachel and Kurt). And some of them were insufferable, intimidating and judgemental.

Don't get him wrong.

He was proud of himself as an elementary school music teacher. Rachel always said that teachers were very very honorable (but underrated) profession. Being a young Broadway actress' boyfriend as he was, he had the opportunities to meet theater people (most of them were actually down-to-earth, and meet-and-chatting with them was the best way for him to learn music) more often than not.

And his stepfather was a Congressman, so that there were times that he accompanied him and his mother to some fundraising events or charities. That was to say, he got used to meet people living in the cream of society. Yet, sometimes, he felt uncomfortable when he met the people from fashion industry related to his stepbrother since fashion and him didn't mix. Not that he did mix with upper class people. Over a long period of time, he had been grown up fatherless and his mother as a nurse had kept her nose to the grindstone for him.

Finn sighed. "Is there anyone else coming with you guys?" he asked, although he had already made up his mind; he was Kurt's brother. Families and friends should be there for their loved ones to cheer up.

"Mercedes," Rachel replied. "Santana and Brit are still on vacay in Hawaii. Quinn didn't make it because she couldn't find any babysitter for tonight. And Tina is, you know, heavily pregnant. So, only three of us," she explained, omitting that she had secretly invited Elliott Gilbert, who currently was on _The Devil's Carnival_, to fix up with Kurt. Not that she was going to play a matchmaker because she knew that it was too soon for Kurt to move on. Yet, meeting new people didn't hurt. Besides, she had been wanting to sing with him for once; he was one voice of the century!

"Okay, I'm going to ask Puck, Sam and Artie then," Finn decided. "I don't think Mike wants to come though."

Rachel nodded, understanding. "So, see you there then?"

"Yep," Finn bent down to kiss her forehead.

"Aren't you going there in that, are you?" Kurt pointed to Finn's plaid flannel shirt.

Finn expected that his brother would say like that. "What's wrong with this?" He whined, looking down at his own clothes.

"I'm working as a buyer from the most reputable multi brand store in the world, Finn. I'm not gonna ever forgive myself that my own brother appears at _Callbacks_ in those tacky clothes. Tons of people who know my name very well are regulars there. I can't believe that you're born and raised in the City."

When Finn began to regret feeling sorry for his stepbrother, Rachel chimed in.

"Kurt! Nothing's wrong with his shirt to go to _Callbacks_. He can wear whatever he wants." Rachel turned to Finn. "You look cute in that shirt, Finn," she said, smiled at him adoringly.

"Thanks, Rach," Finn threw a lopsided grin back at his girlfriend.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Says the girl who still keeps animal sweaters in her closet," he murmured. "I cannot simply pass that, Finn. I'll lay out proper clothes on your bed, so change to them before coming to _Callbacks_. And you," he turned to look at Rachel. "I'm not getting you off the hook, either, Rachel. You need new clothes. We're going shopping before going there."

Hearing Rachel groan, Finn sensed that they would be starting to bicker over clothes and fashion. He needed to run away from it.

"I'm out."

With that, Finn trotted into the doorway, hastily grabbing his quilted down coat, then exiting the apartment.

* * *

_Callbacks_ was already packed. It was on Saturday night, of course it was packed. Mercedes waved to Rachel and Kurt from the table by the red brick wall nearby the piano once she noticed them walking into the bar.

"Hi, Mer." Rachel and Kurt waved back at her.

"I ordered red wine for you guys," Mercedes said pointing the two glasses of wine on the table as they sitting across from her.

"Thanks, Mer," Kurt hugged Mercedes.

"Damn, girl. Look at you!" Mercedes cried as she saw Rachel slipping out of her coat, revealing her new attire which Kurt had deliberately chosen for her; a pair of very short black culotte shorts, sleeveless black and white houndstooth check blouse with a low cut neckline, a bow hanging loosely, and 6-inch black high heels. "And, did you change your hair too?"

"I was forced to be ferried around at _Bergdorf_ **and** beauty salon," Rachel rolled her eyes before brushing her newly styled hair; straight, bangs hanging above her eyebrows.

"You'll be thanking me later. I bet my brother is gonna drool all over you," Kurt puffed out his chest proudly at Mercedes.

Mercedes chuckled at Kurt's enthusiasm over Hudson-Berry's makeover.

"Did you make up with Sam, by the way?" Rachel changed the subject, turning to the African American woman.

"More or less," Mercedes answered. "Can you believe that he gave her a promise ring?" She shook her head before sipping her Spritzer.

"He, what?" Kurt dropped his jaw open, surprised.

"If he was so serious about his relationship with her, he should've told you sooner," Rachel made a face.

"Actually, he was not, I assume. Considering from what he told me," Mercedes continued. "He gave the ring to her after only one date," she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I get it," Kurt chuckled, "then Quinn took to her heels, right?"

"Yep," Mercedes gave him a big nod. "I'd run for the hill too."

"Oh boy," Kurt shook his head. "Can human beings with penis be any good? Except for me, of course."

When Kurt and Mercedes started griping over helplessness of guys, Rachel chose the moment to look over the bar.

"Oh, that's Elliott!" Rachel cried as she saw the guy who was dressed all in black, a pair of fitted black jeans tucked into the boots, fingerless glove in one hand, the top of his hair going sky-high (but very carefully coiffed).

"Who?" Kurt turned his head toward Rachel.

"Elliott Gilbert, he's an actor too. His stage name is Starchild though," Rachel informed.

"Starchild?" Mercedes snorted at the cocky name.

"But he's good, _real_ good," Rachel punctuated. "Why don't we ask him to come join us? You know, he's currently playing _the Scorpion_ from _The Devil's Carnival_," she turned to face Kurt. "Didn't you say that you wanted to see the show, did you?"

Kurt arched his eyebrow. Rachel was right. He was going to see the show with her next month. Yet, he hesitated. He might be arrogant as the stage name sounded.

Before Kurt and Mercedes could give Rachel a final answer, Rachel called out in the direction where Elliott was standing. "Elliot!" She beckoned him to join them at the table.

"Hi, Rachel. What's up?" Elliot said, approaching them, Purple Hand beer in his hand.

Rachel beamed at him, then introduced him to her friends. "Elliott, this is Kurt, Mercedes." She waited for them to shake hands before patting the top of an empty high chair between her and Mercedes. "Why don't you have a seat here?"

"Sure," Elliott took the seat, looking over the three of them.

Awkwardness hung in the air between the four for a moment.

Rachel cleared her throat. "Kurt and I were going to see your show next month," she started. "Right, Kurt?"

"Uh, yeah," Kurt bit his tongue, not knowing what to talk about with the stranger. He wondered if Rachel was going to fix him up with this guy or not.

"Ah, my turn," Mercedes got out of her chair as her name was called before rushing to the stage.

"You are?" Elliott asked with a smile at Kurt. "In that case, I'm gonna put your name on the list for tickets. All you have to do is just mention your name. You'll be guaranteed good seats. Of course, as my guests."

Kurt's eyes lit up as he heard that he could see the show as his guest.

By the time the music of '_I Will Survive_' started, Kurt got to be relaxed and the conversation between the two gay men became animated over the rumor that there would be the revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch in the near future.

Rachel smiled at Kurt's mood lifting up, hoping that new friendship (not relationship) would bloom.

* * *

Mercedes' another rendition '_Bust Your Window_,' Rachel's '_Gives You Hell_,' and Mercedes and Kurt duet '_Hate on Me_' later, Rachel left the other three at the table, walking over to the bar counter to get some water.

While awaiting her water, she leaned forward on the counter, gently tapping her forefinger on the wooden surface along with the drum beats of '_Like a Pill_,' which currently was being sung by Elliott.

And when the bartender handed a bottle of water to her, a masculine voice along with a low whistle came from behind.

"Hello, gorgeous," the voice huskily said, stepping forward to stand next to her, his gaze swimming from north (their ridiculous height difference allowed him enough to see her cleavage) to south (her toned legs went for miles!) of her body, and south to north.

Rachel tilted her head to glance at the tall guy. He wore a nice leather jacket over a smooth dark charcoal gray cashmere sweater, a pair of midnight blue pants tucked into dark brown leather boots.

"Can I buy you a drink?" he asked, but without waiting for her to answer, he beckoned the bartender, knocking on the counter, to get his order already. "Jack Rose for this beautiful lady, and Westmalle Triple for me."

Rachel arched her eyebrow. "How did you know my favorite?" she said, turned to face him, her elbow on the counter.

He just shrugged and mimicked her posture, fully facing her.

When the bartender brought a bottle of beer and a glass of cocktail and placed them in front of the two, the guy pulled his wallet from his back pocket and peeked into it to pay for the drinks. "Oh man," he gasped, "somebody stole my money," he turned to look at her, "for a hotel room and cheeky panty," he deadpanned. "Will you lend me some money?"

"Finn!" Rachel slapped his arm. "You broke the rule! And I didn't steal your money!"

Rachel and Finn had gotten to live together from a very early stage of their relationship, so they met up at some bars more often than not when they went out on a date. And they decided that one to arrive late had to make a pass at another, pretending to be strangers. This time was not a date, but Rachel thought that he had been playing their game as usual.

Finn held up his hands in the air defensively before fishing some bills from the wallet to give them to the bartender. Then he faced Rachel again with a smile. "You look amazing, babe," he leaned down to kiss her, threading his fingers through her shiny silky hair. "And I like your new hair."

"You don't look half bad yourself," Rachel said, caressing his cheek fondly.

Finn picked her up to deposit her onto a high stool, positioning himself between her legs, his hands placing around her waist. Then he leaned down again to whisper in her ear. "God, Rach. I really want to fuck you right now."

Rachel blushed, biting her bottom lip, her arms around his neck.

In her head, two sides of Rachel started debating the pros and cons; the rational Rachel furiously shook her head. The bathroom of the bar had a lot of germs. Besides, she was wearing shorts. Where the hell was she supposed to put them in a cubicle? On the contrary, the adventurous Rachel frantically nodded at her. She got turned on, seeing her boyfriend looking so freaking hot in those clothes. She felt her vagina being on this side already.

"Holy fuck!"

Of course, _of course_, Noah Puckerman the intruder ruined their moment.

Finn and Rachel groaned in unison.

"I bet Finessa is going to eat his girl's sexy kitten tonight," Puck chuckled, looking at Rachel's legs as if they were a piece of meat.

"Dude," Finn let out a frustrated sigh, "don't ever look at my girlfriend like that!" He reluctantly pulled himself away from Rachel, stepping closer to his mohawked friend, nudging his shoulder roughly.

However, Puck just smirked at the couple, making no apologies for his demeanor before walking away from them to the table where Sam and Artie had already joined in the table that Sam's fiancée, Kurt and Elliott were sitting at.

Rachel huffed, blowing her bangs in frustration, deciding that she was going to use the Mohawk as her private servant until the end of the world.

* * *

"How was I?" Rachel excitedly skipped to Finn after finishing the duet '_Barracuda_' with Elliott. "Was I good?"

"Of course," Finn gave her a chaste kiss on her cheek. "You blew me away," he said before adding, "as always."

Rachel clapped her hands happily before perching herself on Finn's lap, leaning her head against his shoulder with contentment.

"Yo, Rachel!" Artie, returning from the bathroom, called from behind as he held his cell phone up in the air to show his former co-star. "Check this out!"

The gang turned their heads around at once to see the guy in an argyle sweater with a pair of suspenders.

"What's that?" Sam asked, popping his chin up at Artie's cell phone.

"She debuted on a celebrity gossip site! Look!" Artie sat on the stool and placed his cell phone on the table for them to see the screen.

"What?" Rachel peered in the screen.

She widened her eyes as she saw the title of the article '_**Jesse St. James and Rachel Berry reunited?**_' along with a lead-in sentence '_**Ghostsinger lead role Jesse St. James and Broadway actress and his former co-star Rachel Berry, who currently is playing Elphaba from Wicked, were seen together at Park Hyatt New York,**_' and a candid photo in which Rachel and Jesse were having breakfast in the diner of the hotel.

"What the fuck?!" Finn hissed as he banged on the table with his fist, which startled all of the gang and practically made them jump on their stools.

"Finn, it's not like that!" Rachel cried and was about to cradle his face with her both hands.

Finn flinched away from her hands and glared at her. "What? Are you saying that you forgot to tell me the most important part of your encounter with this Jackass?"

"Nothing's important, Finn!" Rachel retorted. "We just had breakfast together and most of the time Jesse talked my ear off about himself and his show! Do you really want to know about the details of what he talked about?"

"What I meant was the fact that you didn't tell me that you'd had breakfast together!" Finn spat out in disbelief.

"I knew what was coming if I did tell you. It was just that two friends had breakfast together, that's it. He's one of my friends, whether or not you like it," Rachel countered. "No romantic feelings for him, you know that."

Finn shut his eyes closed and breathed heavily, trying to suppress his anger at the douche (and the fact that his girlfriend hadn't been willing to mention it). "I don't ever understand that you can still be his friend after all this time."

"Hold on," Kurt chimed in while the other friends got fidgeted at the couple's argument (except for Puck who seemed to be entertained). "Rachel, take a closer look at this photo," he swiped the screen of the phone to magnify the picture. "This girl on the left side of the picture looks familiar, don't you think?"

Rachel grabbed the phone to take a look at the candid, in which the Sugar girl was about to leave the diner, her sunglasses in her hand. She slowly looked at Kurt then at Puck. "I was going to follow her that morning, Noah. I knew that she was Sugar McIntosh. Look," she handed the phone out to the police officer.

Sure enough, the picture captured the girl's face which really looked like the dead body's one that Puck had seen at the autopsy room. Now he began thinking that he should have to investigate the two Sugars and Biffs as Rachel had been demanding.

"Alright, Berry, Kurt, I'm gonna make an inquiry into their financial positions," Puck said, rubbing his Mohawk.

"And you need to locate Biff McIntosh's whereabouts too," Rachel reminded him.

Puck nodded, returning the phone to Artie.

"I'm going home," still bothered by the article and the argument with his girlfriend, Finn moved her from his lap before getting out of his stool, ignoring a frown marring on Rachel's face.

"Yeah, we should call it a night," Sam nodded as he stood up from the stool too before holding his hand out to his fiancée to help her standing up.

"What was that about? Who is Sugar McIntosh?" Elliott whispered to Kurt.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you the whole story the next time," Kurt slowly moved his butt from the stool.

"Next time?" Elliott arched his eyebrow.

"Uh-huh," Kurt smiled at him. His first impression on the Broadway actor had been completely overturned over the course of the night. "I don't want to dispose you to have the wrong idea because I've just broken up with my boyfriend. But I had a good time with you tonight. So, it would be grateful if we sometimes hang out, you know, as friends."

"Sure," Elliott nodded.

Meanwhile, Rachel got out of the bar, slipping into her coat, chasing after Finn at a good clip. "Finn, wait!"

Finn stopped by her call, sighing, his hands thrusting into the pockets of his jacket.

"Finn, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about having breakfast with him," Rachel stretched out her arm to slide her hand into one of the back pockets of his pants, the other hand clasping his sleeve. "Finn?" she pressed her face onto his arm, looking up at him. "I really want you to know that you're the one for me. I love you, Finn, more than anything," she said with pleading eyes.

"I know, I love you too," Finn pressed his lips to her hair, but his voice sounded depressed.

"You know you can use my credit card if you want to," Rachel suggested with a straight face.

After a moment, Finn burst into laughter. "Yeah, definitely I will."

Relieved, Rachel smiled at him. However, Finn seemed to be bothered from something to her.

Rachel wondered if he was still going to take her out the next day or not.

* * *

**A/N: For those who have not read 'The Boy Next Door,' Finn ended up watching **_**Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind**_** instead of **_**The Hangover**_** in the chapter 16.**

**Please review :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thank you for reading my story and for the responses! Finally the day Finn was asking Rachel to marry him has come! And Finn and Rachel are having sexy time… before something happens! :O**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Glee and its characters, and any resemblance to real persons or organizations is purely coincidental.**

* * *

**Sunday, November 29, 2015**

Today was the day.

The day Finn Christopher Hudson was going to ask his one and only Rachel Barbra Berry to marry him.

Yet, something stuck in the back of his mind, though he couldn't expound what exactly it was.

Would it be that douche, Jesse St. James?

It might be.

It was not that he didn't trust Rachel. Sure, she hadn't told him their breakfast meeting. But he didn't doubt her love for him. He believed that she had no will to fall back to the Jackass' arms.

Because, she had once said; he was the only person to deter her excessiveness or selfishness or ego from going further without offsetting the advantage of her strength, her passion or enthusiasm before she could lose something important, unlike Jesse or even her fathers (_'yes, I once used to be a spoiled brat,'_ she had admitted)—her exes had rather furthered them. Which made her more mature, a better person, and was one of his best qualities as a boyfriend, as a human being.

When she had told him that, he couldn't help feeling that his confidence, who he was, who he became, was boosted. She always knew how she made him feel proud of himself anyhow.

And he was one million percent sure that he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life.

She was his sunshine clearing away a dim view of himself. She was his moonlight lighting up his feet. One smile, one simple touch from her were sort of alchemy on him. And her angelic voice? It never failed to reach his heart (Rachel always said that every love song she sang was dedicated to him), and it was kind of bewitchment.

Yeah, he totally was bewitched by Rachel Berry. And he loved it. It was worthy of betting on the rest of his life.

He could easily imagine that gray haired himself and she was sitting side by side on a bench in Central Park on one warm afternoon enveloped by full of tangerine color.

That was why he was going to propose to her.

Having said that, he couldn't trust the douche.

Fuck! Why the hell was the Jackass always coming between him and Rachel with the most impeccable timing? He interfered with them even in the form of a piece of gossip garbage! Uugghhh! Just picturing his smug face in his head seized him with a compelling desire to throw a fit or two in it, and hearing his name made him nauseated.

But, no. Something was meaning not only the dickhead.

Some inexplicable feelings had been gnawing his mind since the previous night.

Maybe he was just nervous. Nervous about proposing to Rachel. Nervous about the possibility that she was going to say no (God, he hoped not).

Finn sighed, standing in a shower. Hot shower wasn't enough to shake those thoughts off.

When he was going to reach for a loofa, two tiny arms unexpectedly snuck up from behind to wrap around his torso. He was too preoccupied with his thoughts to notice her joining him in a shower.

"Finn? Are you still mad at me?""

Rachel's naked body pressed up to the back of Finn's large one. He felt her nipples sticking out onto the middle of the back of him.

"I'm not."

Finn closed his eyes as her right hand slid down to his manhood, her plump lips planting beneath his scapula, the fingers of her left one tracing above his left groin—Fuck! She really knew how to make him feel good and _awaken_ him. Then she took his half boner and started stroking it gently. A series of moans escaped from his lips.

A few strokes later, Finn placed his hand on hers to stop from her ministrations before turning around to face his girlfriend. He swept her off with his long arms before setting her legs around him, pressing her petite frame up against the tiled wall. He looked into her eyes for a moment before bringing his face closer to hers.

"I'm not," he repeated in a whisper against her lips before crushing his own onto hers, pouring all his emotions into the kiss.

He felt her rubbing her center against his firm body. She got already aroused as much as he did. He felt her warm wet center around his lower abdomen.

He held her tightly with one arm, his other hand starting to massage her breast. He craned his neck so that he could run his tongue from her neck to her cleavage to her nipple. While his tongue played with her nipple, his hand ran down to her ass to squeeze. Then he slid his hand to her butt crack until it met her wet folds.

Her loud moan and calling his name from pleasure hit the note like music and echoed in the bathroom accompanied with the sounds of shower. He ran his tongue back up to her neck and nibbled it before burying his face in it as he set his full erection between her legs.

He entered her with one swift motion, cupping her ass with his both hands to help her move up and down.

"Fuck, Rach," Finn kept thrusting as hard as he could, trying to memorize girlfriend's face plastered an ecstatic look—this might be the last sex they could ever have as a boyfriend/girlfriend. He wanted to remember this moment forever.

He pushed a pile of her wet hair aside from her face for him to observe clearly as he kept pumping in and out. The hot water splashed all over her body and his own. The fine drops from the water illuminated her long eyelashes. His fingertips traced her wet and now tinged rosy smooth skin.

She was so _so_ beautiful.

She chose the moment to open her eyes as if she had heard his inner voice. She rested her forehead against his, her chocolate colored eyes intently looking straight into his amber ones. He saw as the same spark firing between them as the times they first had shared a kiss, first had made love, first he had witnessed her vaginal orgasm—every intimate moment they had made so far.

"Oh God, Finn," she squeezed her eyes shut, throwing her head back as he hit the right spot. "Right there, baby, keep going." Her lips started trembling.

So he hooked his arms under her knees, jerking his hip up to penetrate her as hard as possible.

He growled loudly as he felt her walls start pulsating and clenching around himself. "Come on, baby," he managed to let out the necessary words to get her over the edge, "let go." He gritted his teeth as he continued his in-and-outs from his tip to his base, trying to get himself off together.

A few more thrusts later, she cried out loud along with his name, her body shaking in his arms. He followed right after she came. She dropped her head on his shoulder, sliding her hand between them before pulling his dick out of herself and stroking it until it got softened.

They both breathed heavily.

He held her tighter as if his life depended on it, though his knees got weakened from their activity.

Then he carefully stepped backward, her body still in his arms, before slowly sitting down on the edge of the bathtub.

"That was–" Rachel couldn't finish her words, still panting.

"Yeah," Finn buried his face in her neck, "amazing. You are amazing." He managed to say between his breaths, his hand stroking idly up and down on her bare back.

"_You_ are amazing," Rachel said as she cradled his face and gave him a chaste kiss on his lips. "I love you, Finn, so much," she said into his mouth.

"I love you more," Finn whispered back.

"That's impossible," Rachel let out soft laughter before resting her head on his shoulder, her arms around his neck.

That was not impossible. Finn thought.

Because she was Rachel Berry, who made impossible possible.

Whenever he got stuck at something, she managed to shed some light on him, like, quoting one of her favorite actresses Audrey Hepburn—_Nothing is impossible, the word itself says "I'm possible_."

God, he loved Rachel Berry.

He was definitely going to ask her to marry him tonight.

There would be, should be, no one stopping him this time.

* * *

"You go ahead. I gotta to pick up our lunch at _Meats-N-Things_," Finn said, stuffing Rusty's exercise toys into the bag. "Don't worry," he chuckled as he saw Rachel scrunched her nose with distaste. "I asked them to cook Rachel's special," he assured as he shouldered the bag.

"Good," Rachel looked up at him beaming before put the leash onto the collar of the dog. "Is there anything I can do before going on a picnic?"

"Nope," Finn led her out of the dog park in the Washington Square Park. "But don't forget wrapping yourself up, 'cause it's expected be cold today."

"In that case, I'm going to pack another blanket then."

Finn nodded before leaning down to kiss her cheek. "See you back at home," with that, he headed for his favorite Deli in the East Village.

"You'll have to stay home with Ms. Bonaparte and Uncle Kurt today," Rachel looked down at the dog. "Because Finn's gonna take me out on a romantic date, all day!" She shifted her gaze to nowhere, still feeling the sensation that Finn had given her in the shower in the morning.

When she sauntered her way back home and started feeling disappointed about Finn's forgetfulness, of which he had left the G-strings that he had purchased at Victoria's Secret in the hotel room the day before yesterday, Rusty pulled her into the street where was a couple of blocks before the one she usually turned.

"Where are you going?" Rachel frowned, but complied nonetheless. She left the way back home to the Jack Russell Terrier, deciding that he might want to mark a new territory.

However, Rusty just kept sniffing here and there on the curb and never seemed to pick a tree.

"Rusty? Aren't you picking anything? What's eating you?" Rachel said, trying to crouch down to pet the dog in vain. She stumbled forward as Rusty suddenly rushed into one of the buildings. She narrowly straightened up and attempted to tug the leash.

"Rusty!" Rachel yelled. But the dog resisted being tugged and continued going forward in full force.

Rachel had a strong arm for her small figure, but so did Rusty. Or, you could say that he had stronger four legs than she did when he zeroed in on what he wanted.

That was the moment that she noticed that the street was deserted. If it had been at night, she would have yanked the leash with all the strength she had and turned back the way she had come at any cost. But it was early Sunday morning. She didn't feel in danger.

So she followed Rusty to approach the building.

"What did you find there? What do you want?" Rachel asked, seeing Rusty attempted to enter the apartment under the stairs, pawing the door, standing up on his hind legs. "Isn't that locked?" She stepped down the stairs before trying handle to the door.

It was not locked.

Rachel hesitated stepping inside the apartment, remembering she had sworn to Finn to never sneak into other people's apartment.

Rusty had a different idea.

He ran off into the apartment through a gap in the door as Rachel got caught off guard. The dog ran away from her before she could re-grip the leash. She ended up slipping it from her hand and Rusty disappeared into the back of the apartment under renovation.

"Rusty!"

Rachel immediately chased after the dog, running through vinyl curtain walls draped everywhere from the ceilings to the floors in the apartment.

"Rusty?" Rachel called out again, sticking her head out of the curtain wall to look over the room.

When she got a whiff of something behind and was going to turn around, a sudden impact hit the back of her head.

She fell forward as she heard Rusty balking.

And she blacked out.

* * *

"Baby! I'm back!" Finn skipped into the apartment, placing the exercise bag by the front door. "Rach? Babe?" He called again, entering the living room, only to encounter his stepbrother clad in a fluffy white bathrobe emerging out of the guest room. "Oh, hey Kurt," he greeted in an attempt to make a straight face, but failed miserably.

Kurt threw a funny look at Finn plastered a goofy grin on his face. "You know, Christmas is a month ahead," he pointed, towel-drying his hair.

Ignoring Kurt's questioning look, Finn put the lunch for their date he had just collected from _Meats-N-Things_ on the kitchen counter before making his way to the bedroom.

"Rachel?" Finn called her name as he wrenched the door open. But she was nowhere to be found.

"I don't think she came home," Kurt yelled from the living room, perching himself down on the sofa.

"What?" Finn spun around to look at his brother from the doorway.

"She's not come home yet," Kurt repeated, not bothering to look back at him, picking up a fashion magazine from the coffee table.

Maybe she found something vegan on the way back home? Even though he had told her there was nothing for her to prepare for their date? Or Rusty was putting her out picking a tree?

Finn pulled his cell phone out of the back pocket of his jeans to ring her. However, her phone went directly to her voicemail. He frowned.

Kurt tore his gaze from the magazine to see his brother who was tilting his head to brood over something. "I heard the house phone ringing while in a shower," he addressed. "It might be from Rachel."

"Oh," Finn snapped out of his thoughts before walking into the kitchen. Sure enough, the phone flashed indicating there was a message. He pressed the button to play it, wondering why she had left a message on the house phone instead of ringing his phone directly.

_**Received at 8:38 am.**_

_**Beep.**_

_**Hey, Rachel. It's Jesse. I'm calling your landline 'cause I couldn't get through to your phone. I left a message on your voicemail though. Anyway, uh, look, there is the producer of my show who is interested in your acting and singing talent and dying to meet you. He's come to New York this early morning and we're having a talk about his new project. If you have an interest in it, come join us in the meeting at Park Hyatt. You know which room I'm staying in? The meeting should be starting at 9:30. I know it's on such short notice, but I hope you can come. Bye, love you.**_

_**Beep.**_

"What the hell!?" Finn hissed.

No, no, no. That was not happening right now.

How dare he leave a message on _their_ landline finishing with the words _'love you'_? He knew, he _knew_ that the Jackass put them on purpose, all too well knowing that he was going to listen to those words.

The bastard was trying to come between them once again, as if he had known that Finn was going to propose to Rachel today! Who could pick the day like that? _Or course_, Jesse St. Jackass!

The douche was annoyingly persistent. Rachel didn't have a slightest interest in Hollywood, given that she had told him the conversation between the pretentious curly haired dickward and her.

Or did she?

Nah. Not a chance.

Because she couldn't have heard the message since she didn't come home yet.

Wait.

What did the douche just say? Did he say that he had left a message to her voicemail, didn't he?

Nope. No way.

Even if she heard his message on the way back home, there was no way his Rachel changed her mind. She had promised that today would be all his (and her). The hot morning shower sex proved it!

So he arrived at the conclusion that she was being tough to handle the picky dog. She would be coming home before he knew it.

Finn nodded to himself, plumping down on the sofa next to his brother.

And he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

But she never came home.

* * *

Since she had to leave her man the other day, she shifted to Plan B to perform.

First, she needed to get rid of the blonde bimbo at the store. So she returned to the store in disguise. But it was not necessary for her to worry about her because the bitch seemed to find a new man, who had a smooth cinnamon colored skin, short black hair, dark brown eyes and firmly fitted body.

If she didn't have a boyfriend, she would say that she could go on a date with a good looking guy like him. But no. She wouldn't if he insisted. Because she had a boyfriend, who was way much more handsome than the guy flirting with the shop girl would ever want to be.

Anyway, one of the obstacles went down.

Next was the most annoying and biggest obstacle. She couldn't believe that there was someone good looking (not her boyfriend, but the one in the article) who was actually attracted to the short, ugly chick. Why did the short brunette still live in the same apartment of her boyfriend despite the fact that she dated with the curly haired guy?

This early morning, the girl went to the dog park with her boyfriend hand in hand! Hand in hand! Was he blackmailed by her or something? _I wouldn't put it past her._ She thought. Poor her baby.

And when was the big nose being alone apart from her boyfriend?

Oh, her boyfriend headed for a different direction!

And the midget used a different street to get back to his boyfriend's apartment.

Alright, now she could be catching the bitch out in something (maybe blackmailing her man).

And she waited.

And waited.

And waited.

For the girl to come out of the apartment under the stairs.

But she never came out of it.

* * *

"Jesse St. Jackas–, I mean, James," Finn banged on the counter of the reception roughly before the hotel staff standing behind the desk could react, "I need to talk to him."

"Ah, yes, Sir. Hold on, please," fidgeted, the staff, short, middle aged with glasses, punched the keyboard before dialing the number of which room Jesse was in. "Sir, may I have your name?" He looked up at Finn.

"Hudson, Finn Hudson," Finn bluntly offered, his arms crossing in front of his chest, his foot impatiently tapping on the floor.

"Mr. St. James, you have a visitor here… Mr. Hudson… yes, yes… certainly," the staff hung up the phone and looked up at Finn. "Mr. Hudson. I'm afraid that Mr. St. James isn't available right now due to the meeting."

"Where is he right now? What room number?" Finn demanded.

"I'm not at liberty to disclose the information," the middle aged staff responded courteously.

"I have the right to know the information because my fiancée is at the meeting with him right now."

Okay, he lied. One, Rachel wasn't his fiancée, yet. Two, she _might_ be at the meeting, he was not sure. But he needed to know Rachel's whereabouts _and_ he had a word or two or three or four or five with the douche.

"May I have her name, Sir?"

"Rachel Berry."

"Ah," the staff nodded, not bothering to check her name on the computer, "she's on Mr. St. James' guest list."

"So she _is_ at the meeting then," Finn spat out, feeling his blood boiling. He gripped the edge of the counter, his knuckles turning white.

"I could hardly answer that, Mr. Hudson," the staff said nonchalantly.

Beyond annoyed, Finn banged vigorously on the counter with his fists again. "She's my fiancée! Why don't you just tell me where she is?" he raised his voice.

The staff who had been forced to deal with the way taller guy than he was practically jumped backward by his outburst. "Uh, um," he choked, glancing at the other staff to help him out. He took his glasses off of his face before restlessly polishing it with his white handkerchief.

When Finn looked over the reception to search for something for him to kick, the general manager appeared from the back room.

"Mr. Hudson," the GM shook his head as he noticed who the guy making trouble was. "We'd much appreciate that you just leave now," he firmly said, circling the desk before putting his gentle hand on the back of Finn. "Please," he forcibly led the angry man to the hotel entrance.

Finn reluctantly complied, cursing himself (and his girlfriend) under his breath.

When Finn finally was forced gotten rid of the hotel, he turned to face the GM. "I need to get the shopping back," he said in an abrupt manner.

"Pardon me?" The GM whipped his head, blinking a few times.

"The shopping bag. The Victoria's Secret one. I left it in the room where I found the guy face-down," Finn explained. He saw the GM looking at him incredulously. "If you don't believe that's not mine, go through the bag. There's the receipt in it."

Still plastering a doubtful look on the face, the GM reluctantly nodded. "Would you please wait here, Sir," with that, he returned to the reception before instructed one of the female staff to bring the bag from the lost and found office.

A few minutes later, the GM walked over to the entrance where Finn was still standing before handing the pink striped bag out to him. "Thank you for staying with us," he said by the book.

Finn tried his best to suppress the urge to roll his eyes. Instead, he murmured. "I'm sorry to trouble you."

He plumped down his shoulders, walking away from the hotel… until the GM was out of his sight. He whirled his head around to look at the way he had come over his shoulder, to make sure that any hotel staff didn't either follow him or have a close eye on him.

Then he got over to the other side of the 57th Street and entered a café from where he could see the hotel entrance.

Jesse St. Jackass should know, Finn Hudson didn't give up that easily.

* * *

"Hey," Finn roughly grabbed the shoulder of Jesse St. James who was going to go down the street after emerging out of the hotel.

Jesse span around to find the unpleasant fellow standing behind him. "What the fuck?" he shot an annoying look at Finn as he shook his hand off of his shoulder as roughly as Finn had grasped it.

"Where's Rachel?" Finn bluntly asked.

"Is asking that kind of question because she finally dumped you?" Jesse mocked. "I knew it was coming. You don't deserve such a talented girl like Rachel," he smirked.

"As much as I would like to please you, but no," Finn folded his arms across his chest. "We are amazing together, as ever. Actually, we've just had _another_ mind blowing sex this morning," he smirked back at the douche.

"Good for you, Naked Man," Jesse rolled his eyes.

Finn narrowed his eyes. "You didn't answer my question," he demanded.

"If you're saying you're great together, why do you need to ask me that?" Jesse asked in answer. Now he also folded his arms in front of his chest.

"You left a message on _our_ landline," Finn started. "Didn't you Rachel tell you to back off? She's not interested in Hollywood!" he nudged Jesse's shoulder, unable to suppress the urge of his anger at the smug face's attitude. "Now tell me where Rachel is!"

"Again. Wrong question," Jesse said nonchalantly.

"Are you suffering from amnesia or something?" Finn stepped closer to Jesse. "You hauled her in the meeting, didn't you?" He grabbed the collar of Jesse, glaring at him.

Jesse winced a bit, edging back. "You didn't change, not one bit," he tried to pull himself. "I do believe that Rachel opposes to violence."

Finn pulled Jesse much closer to him by the collar as the shorter guy attempted to shake his hand off. "Where's Rachel?" This time, Finn asked in a low voice but threatening tone.

"I don't know," Jesse finally offered what Finn had wanted to know. "She didn't show up."

"You should've told me that from the start!" Finn irrationally accused as he violently tore his hand from the collar of Jesse, who just made a face.

Finn started to pace around, running a hand through his hair. Then where was she? Rusty got injured and she took him to the vet? No, it didn't make sense because if so she would have called him. Did she have a car accident or something? No, it didn't make sense either because the hospital would have contacted him.

Oh, God. Where was his Rachel?

He really really hoped she didn't have an accident.

Finn stopped himself from pacing around and turned to face the curly haired man before mumbling. "I gotta go," with that, he rushed into the street to hail a cab.

"You're welcome," Jesse yelled at the back of Finn before walking away from the place.

* * *

**A/N: For those who haven't read 'The Boy Next Door'; TBND is the story where Finn was forced to pretend to be Brody Weston, who was a photographer and had his self-portrait (nude) on display in the museum, to take care of Brody's aunt's pets. That's why Jesse called Finn 'Naked Man' here.**

**Please review :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thank you for reading my story and for the responses!**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Glee and its characters, and any resemblance to real persons or organizations is purely coincidental.**

* * *

**Sunday, November 29, 2015 Part II**

Her vision blurred. The back of her head throbbed with a dull ache. And she felt something sticky on her forehead.

Rachel squeezed her eyes shut then managed to open them once again, but she could tell, the eyes were barely opened. She tried her best to figure out what was happening to her. The last moment she could remember was her chasing after Rusty in the remodeling apartment.

Now all she knew was that she was lying on a floor, her arms behind her body, her wrists tied by something, her legs unable to be parted (maybe her ankles were tied as well, she thought). And her mouth was also blocked… by duct tape?

She threw her head backward slightly to inhale and exhale deeply through her nose a few times.

Still in a foggy daze, some whisper-shouting voices reached her ears.

"_Fuck, the rat!"_ A masculine voice hissed. _"I'm gonna kill that dog!"_

"_Too late,"_ a female voice said. _"And you can't."_

"_How so?"_

"_Do you think that's a good idea you returning to the apartment? Everybody knows the criminology; criminals always return to the scene of the crime. The cops might keep an eye on the apartment."_

"_The fool thinks she is wise,"_ the guy mocked. _"You really stupid, aren't you? First off, I'm not a criminal. Secondly, the apartment is not the crime scene. Third, the case is closed. The cops don't have the body, which, I remind you, has to be reduced to be ashes by now."_

"_Watch your mouth, bastard,"_ The female voice coldly asserted. _"You'd rather not take the mickey, or you won't get what you want. Besides, you're wrong. You're a criminal. You killed her!"_

"_No I didn't. It was an accident,"_ the guy insisted.

"_Who is an idiot now?"_ The girl snorted. _"She wasn't dead at that time."_

"_And who came up with this idea? Huh?"_ the guy retorted. _"Yes, YOU. I could talk my way out of the crime. We wouldn't have gone this so far if you didn't splurge. You are the wirepuller."_

"_Then don't give me that impertinent shit,"_ the girl spat. _"And don't blame me on it. I know that you married me for my money."_

From her rotate ninety degree vision, Rachel could see that indistinct two shadows were standing about ten feet away from her. Getting unconscious again, her mind started going a million miles a minute, as to who they were and how to get out of here.

* * *

On the way back home in a cab, Finn tried to not freak out. Maybe she would have gotten home by the time he did? Or, the actors strike was finally over and she might be summoned by her agent or something?

The thought made him hastily pull his cell phone out of his back pocket and he dialed Nancy O'Connell's number. However, all the information he could get was that the talks between the two parties had been proceeding with difficulty and it was expected to take a few more days to be settled, of which she had already informed Rachel the previous day.

Finn ripped his hair out as he hung up the phone. And he took a deep breath before calling his stepbrother. But his hope was crushed soon as Kurt answered his phone.

So Finn indiscriminately called everyone whom he came up to his mind, her friends and her former and current cast mates. Once he got home with empty handed, he even managed to reach Gabriel Abraham who once had dated Rachel platonically in high school after Jonas debacle and currently lived in LA.

"Finn, relax," Kurt gently placed his hand on the shoulder of Finn, who was pacing around in the living room getting perplexed. "There might be some reasons that she's not come home yet."

"We were supposed to go on a date, Kurt! There's absolutely no reason that she's not come home!" Finn shot back before pacing around again, running a hand through his messier hair than ever.

"You're sure you two made up without reservation over the article?" Kurt hesitantly asked.

"We did!" Finn stopped himself and turned to look at his brother. "Sure, I was still upset when I woke up," he admitted. "But that was all cleared. We even had sex in a shower this morning, might I add."

"Okay, okay," Kurt held his hands up in the air. "I don't want to know when and where you guys have a go at it. But, sex doesn't always solve your problems, Finn."

"Kurt, I know you've just broken up with Blaine. I'm sorry for that. But don't put our relationship in the same boat as yours," Finn said bluntly.

Kurt made a grimace at his brother's words, looking down at the floor.

"I-I'm sorry, Kurt," Finn stammered, realizing that he had taken his frustration out on his brother, trying to place his hand to Kurt's shoulder. But Kurt slightly stepped backward. "I-I shouldn't have said like that."

Kurt cleared his throat. "It's okay. And I didn't mean that, Finn. You have to know that I'm as very much concerned about her as you are."

Finn nodded, rubbing the back of his nape. "Yeah, I appreciate that. And maybe you're right. There're some reasons she's not come home," he walked over to the sofa before plopping down on it.

Then Finn started replaying the conversation with his girlfriend in the dog park in his head, whether or not he had said something wrong again and failed to see a hint of her disappointment with it.

* * *

Rachel didn't know how long she had been lying there. She still had the same pain in the back of her head (_I definitely got a bump there_), although the stickiness on her forehead seemed dried, judging by the feeling around there when she moved the muscle (_Oh, no! Did I get a cut too? Nancy would be killing me!_).

"_Fuck! How did she find here? What are we supposed to do?"_ Irritation toned the guy's voice._ "Do you know why she was snooping in our apartment after you were supposed to vanish?" he said in an accusing tone. "Why the hell didn't you just ignore her that morning?"_

"_I didn't know she was going out such an early morning!" The girl argued. "The doorman was standing by the front door. He would've been suspicious of me if I did."_

"_You shouldn't have invited them to dinner in the first place," the guy petulantly murmured._

"_We didn't know what was coming at that–"_

The girl was cut off as the guy shouted _'Shit!'_

Rachel picked up a slightest hint of the guy (_Biff_. She assumed) turning around to find her already conscious. She could sense that he was walking over towards her.

The guy crouched down beside her face. "I'm gonna take off the tape from your mouth. Don't ever think screaming or some shit. Got it?"

With her half-opened eyes, Rachel stared at him for a second, trying her best to observe the situation that she was in. And she just nodded.

As she had assumed, he was Biff McIntosh. And as far as she was concerned, the other person in the room was Sugar McIntosh (née Motta).

Her gaze quickly shifted to Biff's hands. She could see his right hand bloodstained from a bite scar. She figured that it was Rusty's handiwork. (_That's my boy, Rusty_)_._ She mentally praised her dog. But her dog was nowhere to be found. She hoped he could run away from this horrible situation to ask for help.

Biff roughly peeled the duct tape from Rachel's mouth, which made her squeak a little. He abruptly cupped her mouth at the sound. "Don't make a loud noise, bitch!" he whisper-shouted.

Rachel shut her eyes close for a moment, breathing heavily to calm herself. If Biff (and Sugar) was willingly to kill her, he (they) would've done that already. That was to say, she could find a way to escape from here. She had to find her way to buy time until Finn concluded that something happened to her and would come rescue her, or call the police or Noah for that matter.

She slowly opened her eyes and nodded again.

"This is yours, right?" Biff took something out of the inner pocket of his navy jacket before showing it to her. It was her star shaped pendant.

"You should go see the doctor," Rachel blurted out, ignoring his question.

"Huh?"

"That bite," Rachel's voice was slightly hoarse, so she cleared her throat to continue to speak. "Rusty, I mean, my dog bit you, I assume. You have to know I forgot to get him Rabies shot this year. Which means you'll be likely to be infected with some virus," she bluffed in a low voice.

"You're lying," Biff responded, but seemed daunted a bit.

"I'm not lying," Rachel argued, trying to sound plausible, summoning her best actress' skill. "Why do you think I'm not carrying the license now? That's because it's expired. I can't renew the license without getting my dog Rabies Vaccination. I would get in trouble if I carry the expired license around and get carded."

Biff widened his eyes before getting to his feet. He turned around to approach Sugar then discussed something with her, stealing glances at Rachel. "Shit!" He cursed.

"I'm gonna watch her here while you go to a drug store," Sugar offered. "And don't forget to get what we need here too."

Biff nodded, and glanced in Rachel's direction once more. Then he left Rachel and Sugar alone in the apartment.

* * *

Finn couldn't help but jiggle his knees.

Just sitting on the sofa to wait for someone you loved, wondering where she was right at the moment and if you did something wrong but having no idea, was kind of torture. The minutes seemed like hours. The hours seemed like an eternity. And the sound of the clock's second hand was annoying as hell!

Sure, Rachel had stormed out of his parents' apartment the other day when she had overheard the conversation between his friends. And he had been unable to locate her whereabouts until he had forced Puck to track his credit card record. But at least he had known the reason why she had gotten upset and needed to space from him.

This time was different from that.

"That's it!" Finn abruptly stood up from the sofa. "I'm going to look for Rachel! And Rusty!"

"Finn!" Kurt, also getting out of the sofa, grabbed him by the shoulder. It had been an hour since they decided to sit down and wait for Rachel coming home. "We are clueless. You can't just go look for her randomly. Puck told us to wait here until he succeeds tracking her phone, remember?"

"But her phone goes straight to her voicemail, Kurt!" Finn shook Kurt's hand off of his shoulder. "What if her phone died? What if she caught up in a horrible accident? Oh, God," he buried his face in his hands. "I really don't want to think about it."

"Finn," Kurt placed his hand on his panicking brother's arm. "Finn!" He raised his voice to get him out of the negative thoughts. "Rachel is widely talked about as a Tony Award nominee next season. If she got involved in some accident, I highly doubt that no one would recognize her."

Finn knew that Rachel had been recognized in the streets, or restaurants, since she got a role _Elphaba_ from _Wicked_. He had witnessed her asked for her autograph more often than not when they were out on a date.

Yet, it didn't mean that every one of New Yorkers could recognize her. There were those who weren't the slightest interest in Broadway. If Kurt weren't his brother, or Rachel weren't his girlfriend, he himself might have never thought that he would go see some shows on Broadway (he was bound to meet Rachel in spite of it, he believed), even though he had been a member of glee club in high school and loved music. Also, even if they knew her name, it didn't mean that they could put a face to the name (all her face and body were painted by the green color).

And this was New York City. So many famous people walked in the streets and most of the people didn't pay much attention to them, or at least pretended to not take notice of them.

"Kurt, this is New York," Finn sighed as he plumped himself down on the sofa again, even though he couldn't sit still. He glanced at the time on the wall before turning to face his stepbrother. "If she doesn't come home in another hour, or Puck not calling me, I'm going to look for her anyway," he decided.

* * *

When Elliott was walking on the way to his apartment in Greenwich Village after the meeting with one of his friends at Starbucks at the corner of West 15th Street and 9th Avenue, something white and brown colored lying in front of a closed deli caught his eyes.

If the store was not the one he used to go to, he wouldn't turn his attention to it. It was under scaffolding and the door was in a blind spot because of steel poles. Plus, something seemed to be a creature—the middle of the body was rising and falling.

Elliott widened his eyes as he carefully approached the creature. It was a dog, the ears and the face above its eyes covered by brown color, also the color spotted on the back and the base of its tail, lying on its side. He bent down on his knees and observed the dog. It was put a red collar around the neck, so it was someone's dog but it might have gotten astray.

"Where is your owner, buddy? You got lost?" Elliott cooed, reaching his hand to the stomach to caress. Yet, the dog gave a start at the touch and yelped once with sad eyes. He tore his hand away from the dog before shifting his gaze to the body and legs to examine. One of the hind legs was a little in the air and trembling slightly. And the dog was breathing erratically, given the way of rise-and-fall on the middle of the body. He decided that the dog had gotten an injury somewhere.

So Elliott scooped the dog, determined to take it to the vet. However, the dog whined fiercely as he held it. His heart broke for the dog. It definitely got injured. "Don't worry. I'm gonna take you to the vet, so you'll be fine," he said softly.

Then he secured the dog in his arm before pulling his phone out of the pocket to Google the nearest vet.

* * *

"Where is she?" was the first thing Finn said when Puck rang him.

"_Still working on it."_

"Then why did you call me?" Finn said in a harsh tone.

"_Whoa, whoa. How the hell can you be talking to me like that? Don't give me that shit, Finessa. We're doing our utmost."_

Having heard Puck's retorting reasonably, Finn sighed. "Sorry, I just–"

"_I know that you're just worried about her, but no excuse being like a bitch. Anyway, I've got the information to share. Is Hummel over there too?"_

Finn twisted his upper body to glance at the kitchen where Kurt was preparing their lunch—He refused to have the one which he had picked up from _Meats-N-Things_. "Yeah. Why?"

"_Set the speaker mode. It's about McIntosh."_

Finn beckoned his stepbrother to come over with a hand and press the speaker button. "Alright, all set. You can talk," he encouraged as Kurt perched himself on the sofa beside Finn.

"_First, the guy you found in the hotel room, as Berry claimed, was not Biff McIntosh. His name was Rory Flanagan from Cork, Ireland. He was an exchange student in Austin a few years back. And guess what? Who do you think his girlfriend was at that time?"_

Finn exchanged a glance with Kurt before turning his attention to the phone screen. "Sugar Motta?"

"_Ah, close!"_

"The other Sugar?" Kurt chimed in.

"_Ding, ding, ding, ding! Circle gets square! The winner is Kurt Hummel and his new beau is going to get the framed extended image of him on the night when he was passed out in Huddy's apartment!"_

"Puck! Enough shenanigans," Kurt admonished, huffing as he heard the Mohawk chuckling. He had been horrified when Finn had shown his most embarrassing picture to all of the gang, his new friend included, the previous night at _Callbacks_! "Neanderthal," he added, mumbling.

"_Finessa, you really have to forward that picture–"_

"Puck!" Finn cut him off. "Go on," he demanded.

Puck stopped chuckling and resumed the information.

Biff McIntosh was also from Austin, Texas. He was an orphan and had been sent around from a foster family to another in his childhood. After high school graduation, he got a job at one of Al's company's factories. That was where he met Sugar Applebee who had been still a high school student, and they had been dating for a while. However, eventually he dumped her and he started to date Sugar Motta a few years later.

As for Sugar Applebee, she was grown up fatherless throughout her life. Despite the media had exposed the fact that she was another daughter of Al Motta, Al had never provided enough support except for the monthly expense because of Al's wife (he might have been a successful businessman but the most of Motta family's property had been under his wife's name). And Al hadn't left her anything.

However, Al had not been completely a jerk. He had seemed to try to leave Ms. Applebee something; Al had set up Ms. Motta a trust fund, and Ms. Applebee could inherit it in case that Ms. Motta was dead.

"_And in checking each financial position, we found out that Sugar Motta is completely broke on account of her extravagance."_

"So, are you saying that the girl who committed suicide really was Sugar Motta as her husband claimed?" Finn asked, not really understand where this was going to.

"_No. Sugar Applebee has green eyes, and so did the dead body, but Sugar Motta has brown ones, as far as I'm concerned. Did you remember that Berry said that she had seen a passport, Applebee's name printed? In McIntosh's apartment?"_

"Oh my Gucci," Kurt cried. "Sugar Motta camouflaged her own death? And is gonna pretend to be Applebee? To take over her own trust fund?"

"_It looks like that, yeah. And probably Biff McIntosh is going to be pretending to be Rory Flanagan. Now we're obtaining an arrest warrant for forgery of documents. Once we get them, the real situation will be dawning, I guess."_

"Wow. So Rachel was kind of right," Finn murmured.

"_You'd better not tell her she was right, or she's gonna ride her luck. She's like a cowgirl and always riding Huddy's dick though."_

"That's true," Finn grinned, nodding affirmatively.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Anything else?"

"_Nope. That's all so far."_

When Finn was about to go back to the matter at hand, a ringtone of Kurt's phone interrupted. "Puck, we gotta go. Please, locate in Rachel, ASAP," he desperately asked.

"_I'll try."_

As soon as Puck hung up, Kurt picked his phone from the coffee table to answer it.

"Hello?"

* * *

While Biff was out, Rachel tried to play her tearful entreaties on Sugar (She was an actress. Of course, she could cry on demand). Yet, Sugar adamantly refused to communicate with her. She also attempted to complain that she had to pee, which she really did, but Sugar continued to ignore her, covering her mouth with duct tape.

Frustrated, Rachel wanted to rip her hair out, which she couldn't. She needed to work out a new plan to bide her time. Because, she believed with confidence that Finn would come to find her. They were supposed to go out on a date. He was supposed to take her out as soon as he got home from Meats-N-Things. He should've notice that something bad was happening to her.

Rachel snapped out of the thoughts as Biff returned to the basement with a plastic bag in his hand.

Sugar hurriedly approached him before starting discussing something again.

"Any idea?" Biff bluntly asked, glancing at Rachel over his shoulder as he took some medicines and bandages out of a plastic bag.

"The same way as the last time?" Sugar shrugged as she opened the cap of antiseptic solutions.

Biff let out a frustrated sigh. "The last time, she seemed to fracture her neck so we could disguise suicidal hanging. How do you break her neck this time?"

Rachel widened her eyes. Their voices were so low and it was impossible for her to hear all the words. But thanks to the quiet environment, she could understand what they insinuated. Now she was sure that they were going to kill her too. She felt her eyes burning, her heart pounding loudly. Yet, she refused to fall her tears. Rachel Barbra Berry crying was only when she sang conveying her emotions or it was over guys. She was not going to show them her fear. And she refused to die before she could see the love of her life once again.

"Pushing her over a rooftop?" Sugar suggested as she put a dressing on his wound.

"Hmm, sounds good," Biff responded nonchalantly. "We have to wait until the midnight either way."

"And we need something to wrap her body," Sugar collected the first-aid kit from the floor and put it into the plastic bag.

"I'm gonna rip one of these curtain walls," Biff said, clasping and unclasping his right hand a couple of times to make sure the feeling, before rising to his feet and disappearing into another room.

Rachel took a deep breath through her nose, determined to make them have a falling out in one way or another.

* * *

"Hello?"

"_Kurt? It's Elliott."_

"Elliott? I'm gladly surprised you call me," Kurt blushed a little. "What's going on?"

"_Um, Is Rusty Berry-Hudson Rachel's dog, right?"_

"Yeah, he is." Kurt tilted his head before gesturing his brother who seemed to reach his limit to just sit and wait in the apartment. He pressed the speaker button and asked. "Why?"

"_I'm in the vet, I found him immobile in the street and–"_

Elliott quickly explained how he ended up taking the dog to the veterinary clinic.

"Is he okay? How did you figure out that he's our dog? Where is Rachel?" Finn broke in. His heart beat faster, which he didn't know whether he could finally find a clue where Rachel was or Rachel possibly got injured as well.

"_Is that Finn? Hi, Finn. Uh, unfortunately, I have no idea where she is to be honest. I tried to call her, but her phone seems dead."_

Finn dropped his head and sighed deeply in disappointment.

"_As for your questions about your dog, he's got a few bruises around his abdomen and a fracture of one of his hind legs. But he seems okay now. And how did I figure out that he was your dog? Well, his full name with a gold star is embossed on the other side of his collar. I've heard once or twice Rachel mentioned her dog before. So, I assumed that he was your dog."_

Finn didn't know that he should cry or laugh, recalling that Rachel insisted that their dog need a custom-built collar with his full name and a gold star when they had officially gotten to be his owner after Mrs. Weston's death. He was relieved that Rusty was found by a kind person like Elliott despite the dog suffered from some injuries. On the other hand, Rachel was still missing. Rusty got injured meant that she might have had gotten involved in an accident, injured as well, and cried why nobody found her yet. The thoughts made him have to blink back the threat of tears.

Seeing his brother almost break down, Kurt opened his mouth. "Thank you for taking care of Rusty, Elliott. I'm going there to pick him up. Tell me where exactly you are."

As soon as Kurt got the necessary information as to which clinic Elliott was at, he made a beeline to his brother's and Rachel's bedroom to take the dog carrier. "Finn, you wait here in case Rachel comes home," he placed his hand on the shoulder of Finn, who still dropped his head at his wits' end. "I'll bring Rusty home."

Finn just nodded before mumbling. "Thanks, Kurt."

After Kurt had departed, Finn stayed on the sofa, wondering if he should call every hospital in the City or go around to look for someone, anyone who had seen Rachel in this morning.

And as he grabbed his phone from the coffee table, deciding to call hospitals one after another, the doorman's voice came through the intercom.

"_Mr. Hudson? You have a visitor here."_

Finn frowned and turned around in the intercom's direction before staring at it for a second. He slowly got up off his ass from the sofa and approached the intercom. "Who?"

"_Mrs. Penkala."_

Why did Mrs. Penkala come to his apartment? What for? His frown got deepened. But soon his eyes lit up. She might have known Rachel's whereabouts!

"Uh, send her up, thanks."

A few minutes later, a buzzard on the front door rang.

Anxious to know the reason Mrs. Penkala visited him, Finn swung the door open, only to find an unexpected visitor standing in the hallway.

"M-Ms. Owen? What are you doing here?"

* * *

**A/N: Finn can't get any clue of Rachel's whereabouts yet. But don't worry, he's almost there.**

**Please review :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thank you for reading my story and for the responses!**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Glee and its characters, and any resemblance to real persons or organizations is purely coincidental.**

* * *

**Sunday, November 29, 2015 Part III**

Finn swallowed hard as he found Penny Owen standing in the hallway. He got shivers down on his spine as he saw her demeanor; she stared at him through her eyelashes with a spooky grin on her face, wringing her both hands in front of her body. Fidgeted, he stumbled backward a little, grabbing the doorframe to support his own body.

What was she doing here? How was she always managing to show up at the worst possible time? It was no time for him to deal with this creepy school nurse right now! Uuuuggggghhhh! Penny and Jesse really were birds of a feather when it came to interfering with him and Rachel!

And why did she assume Mrs. Penkala's name? Oh yeah, she knew that he wouldn't let her up if she gave the doorman her real name. Which meant, at least, that she was aware that he was not interested in her, right? Right? _RIGHT?_

Finn tried his best to collect himself. He even prayed to imaginary Grilled Cheesus, wishing that she simply called on him to apologize since she had the pangs of guilt about what she had caused him in trouble at Victoria's Secret the other day.

"Ms. Owen?" Finn said again. Yet, Penny just threw a maniac grin at him. He shook his head to get out of uncanny feelings before asking. "Uh, are you with me?"

"Yes, I'm with you," Penny giggled with misinterpretation. Then she passed through under his arm, which still rested against the doorjamb, navigating herself into the apartment before he could stop her.

"W-what are you doing?" Finn repeated. He span around, leaving the door still opened, following her into the living room. "I can't have that. I'm in the middle of something right now. I'd much appreciate if you just leave now," he tried to not sound harsh. He didn't want her to snap at him.

Penny whirled around to face Finn, plastering a too sweet smile on her face. "You wanna something to drink?" she said walking into the kitchen without permission. "You could use some coffee to snap out of whatever spell Rebecca cast on you," she continued, flipping one cabinet to the other open to look for coffee grounds.

"Huh?" Finn was too dumbfounded at how she fell on deaf ears to understand what she was getting at. His mind was occupied with ideas how to call the cops or Puck (or Jake? Not that he knew his number though) without being noticed by Penny. He even missed that Ms. Bonaparte, gotten nervous at a stranger's presence in the apartment, started chewing the hem of cushion cover.

Fuck! If Penny were a guy, it would be so much easier for him to deal with her. All he had to do was just punch her in the face and kick her ass out of the apartment, wouldn't it?

"I don't understand why she claims you're her boyfriend despite the fact that she's with other men," Penny kept talking as she placed the kettle on the stove before turning away from Finn to resume her search for coffee grounds.

Other _men_? Did she just say _**men**_? As in Plural?

But now there was no time for him to dwell on it. He had to get her out of his apartment as soon as possible. Penny was still turning her back on him. Finn chose the moment to tap the Recent tab at the bottom of the phone screen before tapping one of the names who had called him the most recent. Then he threw the phone onto the sofa before Penny could notice.

"Aha!" Penny grabbed the jar of coffee grounds from the fridge before turning around to face Finn. She started to prepare to brew coffee, moving around in the kitchen as if she ruled the apartment.

"_Sup?"_

"Ms. Owen!" Finn squeaked as soon as he heard his mohawked friend's voice coming through his phone. "I didn't invite you in. Please just leave before I take some major action," he loudly pleaded, hoping that Puck got the message.

"I know that the guy stayed at the same hotel. Or at least he was there when Rebecca was too. I know it because I saw him," she continued, ignoring Finn's remark. "I think he is a two-timer though. Not that she wouldn't care because she has a tendency toward infidelity as well, I think."

"Mr. Owen," Finn repeated in a louder tone. "First of all, my girlfriend's name is _**Rachel**_, not Rebecca. Secondly, she isn't cheating on me. If you mean by the article, you simply misunderstand. It was all cleared. Third, just leave, please. I don't appreciate that you help yourself to all in my apartment."

"The article? What are you talking about, Finny?" Penny asked with a frown, pouring the hot water into the dripper. "Oh, _that_ article?" she let out a small laugh. "I've read that, yeah. That's why I said that Rachael wouldn't mind the guy is two-timing."

"It's _**Rachel**_!"

"Whatever," Penny rolled her eyes. "I don't know whether that guy, um, Jess? is unfaithful to her or not, but who cares?" She shrugged. "The thing is, Finny, she doesn't deserve you. She's fooling around with two guys, or three? If you included."

"Huh?" Three? Him included? What was she talking about? Who did she mean the other guy was? "What did you mean by three?"

"You, Jess, the other guy, I don't know his name, but I saw him at Park Hyatt with another girl, and this morning too. I have a great memory," she said nonchalantly as she poured the coffee from the server into two mugs. "I assume that that apartment is their hideaway," she scrunched her nose in disgust.

"That apartment? What apartment?" Confused, Finn knitted his brows. "Their hideaway?" Rachel had been meeting someone (else) secretly? This morning?

When Finn was about to elicit information from Penny, two police officers in blue rushed into his apartment.

"We've got a report that some woman was disturbing other people's peace," one of the officers, who had a shorter hair and darkish skin, opened his mouth as he threw a meaningful glance at Finn. "Miss," he started, given Finn's approval nod, "would you mind coming down to the station with us?"

"We've got something to ask," the other, who was the taller and had light brown hair, said firmly as he approached Penny.

"I did nothing wrong here!" Penny grunted, trying to shake the brown haired officer's hand off, before shooting her best puppy dog eyes at Finn. "Right, Finny?" she pleaded before turning to the officer. "This is his and my apartment! I'm his girlfriend!"

Finn pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. "No, you're not," he sighed before turning to the shorter haired officer. "Jake, take her to the station, please."

Jake nodded understandably and jerked his chin up as a signal to his partner. "Ryder," he encouraged him to lead the girl out of the apartment before joining Ryder to take Penny out.

Penny frantically made a stubborn resistance to the officer, which, however, resulted in her punching Ryder in the face by accident (or not), adding to the reasons the officers took her to the station.

"Jake, wait!" Finn called out as the officers dragged Penny out of the apartment. "She might have followed Rachel this morning," he started to replay the conversation between him and Penny. "Find out where the apartment is."

"I'll take care of it," Jake patted Finn on the shoulder. "And I highly recommend that you get a restraining order."

"Yeah," Finn said absent-mindedly. His mind was too preoccupied with the thoughts about the mystery man and the apartment which Penny had mentioned.

Who was the guy?

And most importantly, where was Rachel?

* * *

She pursued her lips tightly, furiously shaking her head.

Rachel struggled frantically against Sugar who attempted to make her drink water, which she presumed was mixed up with something, some substances, like a sleeping pill. She had seen Sugar take a red box out of the plastic bag, pop a couple of white tablets out of one of the blisters, smash them into pieces, put them in the water bottle, then shake it up.

To be honest, she was thirsty and dying to quench her thirst. Yet, she refused to have the water going down her stomach. If she gave in, she couldn't escape from this situation by herself.

"Ugh!" Frustrated, Sugar held her hands up in the air before turning her head in Biff's direction for help.

Rachel chose the moment to let out her necessary words loud. "Look, I'm not afraid dying here," she lied.

She was _terrified_ of dying. She didn't have Tony Awards under her belt yet. She didn't get married yet. She didn't have kids yet. _With Finn._ And she didn't say enough I-love-yous to him, her dads, and her friends. She was, however, determined to not show those emotions to the couple, ever.

"But you should listen to me before whatever action you'll take because you two have no chance to get away this time."

Biff exchanged a glance with Sugar before approaching Rachel. "What the fuck are you getting at?"

"Sugar Applebee was a nobody. That's why the cops weren't assiduous to pursue the incident," Rachel started, hoping that Biff didn't hear her heart pounding loudly. "Yeah, you wonder why I know that, don't you? But let's talk about it later."

Biff narrowed his eyes, hearing the name of Sugar Applebee.

"Unfortunately for you guys, unlike Ms. Applebee, I'm not a nobody," Rachel firmly claimed. "You seem like you forget I'm a Broadway actress. I have the show to be on tomorrow," she challenged. She knew that the actors strike was still going on. But she highly doubted that Biff and Sugar were ones to have an interest in Broadway, considering to the conversation that they had had over the dinner a week before.

"So?" Biff mocked. "People commit suicide, whether they're famous or not."

"That's where you're wrong," Rachel laughed. "You should know that I'm most certainly not one to choose ending my own life. Everybody knows it. And my agent and I just discussed tomorrow's show yesterday. If you don't believe me, check my cell phone," she said in one breath, glancing at her phone which was removed the battery, thrown onto the cold concrete floor.

"I'm not that dumb, Ms. Berry," Biff smirked at her, folding his arms across his chest. "You thought I'd put the battery back to the phone so that a GPS tracking device could be on. I'm not gonna fall for it."

"Does it matter to you?" Rachel smirked back at him. "Why do you care about it if you think people commit suicide whether they're famous or not?" She plastered a mischievous smile on her face, channeling the actress Rachel, as if she played a role as a bad guy on some show.

Rachel saw Biff turning red in anger. "Shut the fuck up, bitch!" He took the water bottle from Sugar's hand roughly before approaching Rachel. He circled the cap of the bottle, crouching down, then forcibly let the water rinse down to her throat.

Biff's drastic action made the water going down the wrong pipe. Rachel violently coughed her lungs out, which caused her nose running and saliva dripping from her mouth, spilling out to the concrete with some water.

Her vocal chords and lungs were her life, her career! Rachel thought it for a second. But she couldn't care about it right now. She had to do or say something before her time was up, though she didn't know how much time was left for her to prevent the sleeping pill from kicking in (if she was correct).

Rachel breathed deeply when she stopped coughing.

"Did you meet Noah Puckerman?" she managed to keep speaking. "The Mohawk guy? The detective working at 40th precinct? Yeah, I thought you did," she said as she saw Biff slightly widen his eyes. "And you thought that the case was closed, but it isn't actually. I know it isn't. Noah Puckerman is one of my friends. You should check his name on my phone too. And do you want to know what he said to me yesterday?" she spoke at once before shutting her mouth, aiming at producing a dramatic effect in silence.

Having said that, not to her liking, now tears threatened to fall. She still felt her lungs and throat burning. She managed to heave a breath out.

Biff waited for her to finish, standing in front of her body, looking down at her, tapping his foot impatiently.

However, Rachel kept squeezing her mouth shut. To put him back up.

"Out with it already," Biff raised his voice, kicking her stomach hard with his heel.

Rachel gasped at the impact, her body writhing in agony. Nevertheless, despite the situation, she didn't miss that Biff had hesitated throwing his leg at her. And more importantly, she witnessed that Sugar, who was a couple of feet away from Biff, got flustered by Biff's violence.

"Sugar," Rachel cried. "You should know that he might end your life as well after me. And you," she shifted her gaze to the guy, whose body was slightly vibrating. From what? Anger? Or being aware that he would be up against the wall? "You need to check her bank account to make sure that she really is a millionaire," she bluffed.

Of course, Rachel didn't know Sugar's financial position. She just hoped that their bank accounts have been already under surveillance (if so, Noah or his colleagues could at least locate them when they made a balance inquiry or something). Also she hoped that her remarks led them to fall out with each other.

Now Rachel's eyelids were getting heavy, feeling them fluttered close from mental exhaustion. The couple's voices were slowly dying away from her ears.

* * *

"Finn!" Kurt called out from the front door.

Finn stopped his hand from dialing the next hospital, jumping out of the sofa, before rushing into the foyer.

"Kurt! Oh, thank God!" He took the dog carrier from his brother's hand, peering into it. "Hey, buddy," he said in a soft voice to the dog, "don't worry anymore. You're safe now." Then he put the carrier on the floor and held his head up to see the man wearing eyeliner around his eyes standing behind his brother. "Can't thank you enough," he held his hand out to shake before pulling him for a one-arm hug.

"Sure thing," Elliott patted Finn on the back. "I bet you'd so the same thing if you were in my position."

"Come on in," Finn invited Elliott in with a wave of his hand. He took the carrier off the floor. "Kurt, serve him whatever he wants," he asked before turning to Elliott. "Wine? Beer? Anything else?"

"Beer would be great, thanks," Elliott nodded appreciatively, following Kurt into the living room. "But you don't have to go out of your way, you know."

"Nah," Finn waved his hand dismissively, encouraging him to sit down on the sofa.

While Kurt served Elliott a bottle of beer, Finn made his way over to the bedroom to take Rusty's blue plaid dog pillow, which Rachel had gotten for him claiming that pets' outfits and belongings should be matched to their owners, to let the dog rest on. He returned to the living room and placed it on the floor beside the sofa before gently taking the dog with a bandage around his left hind leg out of the carrier.

Once he placed the dog on the pillow securely, he grabbed his phone from the coffee table to resume calling hospitals in the City. However, he had to pause his hand since Rusty started to whine and tried to get out of the pillow.

"Rusty?" Finn called out, getting out of the sofa, crouching down beside the pillow. "I know your whole body is one big ache. So you're not supposed to move around." He gently stroked him between the eyes. Yet, Rusty kept whining.

Finn decided that he needed his stuffed monkey, which he considered as his little brother somehow. He stood up from the sofa to grab the monkey from the bedroom before placing it by the dog's stomach.

Relieved seeing Rusty immediately started licking the monkey's face, Finn resumed what he had been doing before. However, Rusty seemed to decide to not need his monkey now, ditching it on the edge of the pillow, began whining again, turning his head in the direction of the doorway, trying to stand up on his four legs.

"You wanna go out? To pee? In that case, I'm gonna put your potty pad on the pillow," Finn was going to stand up to go into the bedroom.

"Finn, wait," Kurt stopped Finn. "He might want to return to the place where he lost sight of Rachel!" He exclaimed. "Or he may remember where Rachel is?"

Finn widened his eyes at some realization before slowly looking down at the dog. He bent down to get to the same eye level. "Rusty? Is that true? You want to tell me where Rachel is? You know where your mommy is?"

Rusty reacted with a series of barks at the name of Rachel and the sound of mommy.

"You're sure? Rachel? Your mommy?" Finn asked again, only to earn the same reaction from the dog. "Okay, okay," he stood up and started to pace around. "How am I gonna do? He can't walk around in that state, right?" He murmured under his breath. "How do I manage to let him lead to the place Rachel might be at?"

"Put him back in the carrier, Finn," Kurt said, getting out of the sofa. "And we go to the place where Elliott found him as the starting point, and walk back to the dog park. He may bark or growl or yap or whatever as a signal to let us know whether we're on the right way or not."

"Yeah, yeah, it's worth a try," Finn frantically nodded. "But I'll do it. You two stay here in case someone calls the landline. I mean, you can go home, Elliott, if you have any other plans, of course."

"I don't have any," Elliott replied. "You know, Kurt told me about Rachel. I'm a friend of hers too. So, I can come with you, or stay here."

"Then stay here with him," Finn said, turning his head, eyeing Kurt. "Get anything you and Elliott want delivered, Kurt. My treat," out of his wallet, he fished two one-hundred-dollar bills, which he had withdrawn from ATM this morning for the special date, before handing it out to his brother.

"Are you sure?" Kurt said taking the bills from his hand nonetheless. "I mean, are you sure that you don't want me to come with you?"

"I'm sure," Finn firmly nodded.

Then he gently picked Rusty up from the dog bed and adjusted the dog into the carrier before rushing into the street.

* * *

"Okay, buddy," Finn took a deep breath, standing in front of the deli on Hudson Street between West 15th Street and W 14th, the dog carrier in his hand with a tight grip.

He knew that Rachel usually made a big detour on the way back home from the dog park, saying that it was her way to exercise. However, he didn't know her exact route from the dog park to their apartment; all he knew was that it was within 5th and 9th Av., and W 23th and W 14th St., and sometimes she stopped by his favorite bakery on W 18th St. to get some pretzel croissants for him (and kale juice for her).

So, he decided to go down in W 14th St. as a start, extending the straps, hanging the carrier as down low as possible, creating the dog's usual eye level for Rusty to recognize the surroundings, although he was not so sure that he could see it clearly though the mesh door.

When he was going to pass by 8th Avenue, Rusty barked frantically to stop him from going straight.

"Which way?" he asked, peeking into the carrier. To make sure, he turned right to go down 8th Av, only to earn Rusty's vigorous yapping. "Okay," he returned the crossroad. Next, he turned left to go up 8th Av. "Am I doing right, buddy?" The injured Jack Russell Terrier barked a couple of times happily in answer.

"Good boy," Finn nodded to the dog, making slow steps.

At the very moment that Finn was crossing W 15th St., his cell phone buzzed. He placed the carrier down onto the ground before pulling the phone out of the pocket of his jean.

"_You're gonna like this, Huds."_

As soon as Finn answered the phone, Puck's triumphant voice came from the other end of the line.

"If you're going to tell me about Biff McIntosh again, I'm kinda busy right now," Finn tried to not sound annoyed.

"_Well, it's relevant to him, but–"_

"I appreciate you keeping tabs on him, but," Finn cut him off, "I gotta go. Rusty's trying–" Before he could finish, he turned to be the one cut off.

"_It's about your girl, Finessa. Jake's got a piece of information out of the school nurse. Apparently she followed Berry this morning. And guess what?"_

Finn's heart started to pound rapidly. "Don't keep me in suspense! Just tell me already!" He almost yelled at him, which caused some people who were passing by him to practically jump daunted. He huddled up himself apologetically.

"_The school nurse saw her enter an apartment, and about two hours later, a guy came out of it–"_

"Who? Who is that guy?" Anxious to know, Finn interrupted.

"_Dude, let me finish first."_

"Sorry," Finn sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Go on."

"_They composed sketch of the guy from Penelope's description, turns out, it really looks like Biff McIntosh."_

"Where? Where exactly did she see Rachel?" Finn hissed.

"_It's 1XX W 16th St., and–"_

"Puck, I'm very close to that place!" Finn cried out loud. "I gotta go, I'm going–"

"_Whoa, whoa, Huddy, don't do that. Laymen shouldn't venture into a possible crime scene alone!"_

"C-crime scene?" Finn's voice cracked, feeling uneasiness. "What do you mean crime scene? Did he hurt her? Oh my God. No way, no fucking way that's happening!" He squatted down at the roadside, running his empty hand through his hair.

"_Dude! Calm down! I was just trying to say McIntosh might confine Berry in the apartment for some reasons."_

Puck's comment didn't made him feel better, not one bit. Sure, Rachel had said that she might have left the star pendant in the bathroom of McIntosh's apartment. But other than that, there was no reason for the guy to confine his girlfriend, right? Right? _RIGHT?_

"_My buddy and I are already on the way there. So meet me up in front of the red bricks at 7th Av. and W 18th in 15 minutes, okay? Don't try to be a lone wolf. I mean it. Got it?"_

Squeezing his eyes shut tightly, trying his best to suppress the urge to rush in the direction Puck had just told him, Finn managed to let out a word through his gritted teeth. "Fine."

Then he shortened the straps of the carrier before shouldering it firmly. "Rusty, don't bark, please. We're gonna get there soon. Just wait for a minute, then we'll find your mommy, okay?"

With that, Finn ran off toward the place his best friend officer had instructed.

* * *

**A/N: I'm really sorry if you feel hung-up on the end. There are two more chapters!**

**Please review :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Thank you for reading my story and for the responses!**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Glee and its characters, and any resemblance to real persons or organizations is purely coincidental.**

* * *

**Still… Sunday, November 29**

When Rachel's eyes fluttered open, she found herself only in the darkness. Furthermore, she was incapable of moving. But she knew that she was boxed in, _literally_ boxed in a small space. She was currently in the fetal position.

Rachel tried in vain to stretch her arm, which had been folded in front of her chest. She even struggled to spread out the palms of her hands in an attempt to figure out where she was caged in. After enough minutes of struggle, she managed to touch some materials surrounded her body—she felt some fabrics, possibly nylon.

Was that… a suitcase? Was she in a suitcase? Did they put her in it while she was unconscious due to sleeping pills?

Oh, God! They were going to kill her, pushing her body off from a rooftop as they had mentioned. No, no, no. She didn't want to think about it. _Don't panic, Rachel!_ She inhaled and exhaled deeply a few times to compose herself. She refused to believe that her life would end, be ended by someone else today. She needed to avoid the worst case scenario.

But when exactly were they going to do that? How would she avoide the scenario?

Rachel inhaled and exhaled once again, wondering how much time she had left by the time they finally took their actions. She bit her bottom lip, trying her best not to shed tears.

_Think, Rachel, think!_ She told herself.

They probably thought that she was still unconscious. She wasn't sure that she lucked out coughing the water out when it had gone down the wrong pipe or Sugar had miscalculated when she had put the pills into the water. The one thing she was sure, though, was that the pills didn't work to keep her sleeping until the time they had expected. And her wrists and ankles weren't tied with duct tapes or some strings anymore.

Considering those facts, she still had a chance to prevent their actions. Especially at the time they were going to open this suitcase.

The problem was that she didn't have anything in substitution for arms. Her cell phone had been taken away from her. Her rape whistle was in her purse which had been also confiscated.

Wait.

She was wearing bobby pins!

It could be an alternative to, like, an army knife. Well, the size and the effect were one fiftieth, or one hundredth. But, it was better than nothing.

Rachel tried her best to put her fingers behind the nape of her neck to pull the bobby pins off, which should have been for her loose locks but were now useless anyway. Once she succeeded in taking them from her hair, she grasped them tightly in her hand and decided to stay that way until the time came to use them.

Rachel let out a relieved sigh.

It was, however, short-lived. The one more big problem remained. What if they didn't open the suitcase and decided to throw it away into the river or somewhere else? How could she manage to escape from this locked box?

She exerted herself to unlock the suitcase from inside with her bobby pins, but to no avail. Not only she couldn't find the exact spot that she needed, but also she couldn't move her arms enough to reach it.

When she started to think back and forth, whether she should give up unlocking the case or not, she felt like she floated in the air. Then suddenly someone seemed to roughly drop the suitcase onto the ground.

Rachel gritted her teeth, trying her best not to scream from the pain which was caused by the impact that she imagined that Biff and Sugar might have carried out the suitcase from somewhere to another.

Now her body was upside down, which made her in a more uncomfortable position—her head and neck had to bear her weight. She could hear the dragging sounds.

Rachel squeezed her eyes shut and began pondering over her almost 24-year's life to distract herself from the pain and the uncomfortableness.

Over her dads, who always had been supporting her ambition to be a star on Broadway since she was a toddler. Over her birth mother, who had told her that she couldn't be her mom and had adopted a baby girl instead, and never saw her again. Over her few high school friends, who had relied on each other when they had been tormented by bullies. Over her new friends in the City, who had accepted the way she was.

And over her _Finn_.

She remembered clearly the night after he had taken her virginity.

After making love, they talked and talked and talked about silly things until the dawn was broken.

By the time their eyelids finally got heavy, Finn suddenly requested Rachel to sing something for him, saying he loved her voice, wanted to listen to her angelic voice to sleep. He demanded that she should sing one of the songs she had written by herself in high school, not Barbra Streisand or Celine Dion. She refused at first because the song was kind of embarrassing. But she gave in eventually since he played dirty with his best puppy dog eyes.

As she predicted, Finn laughed so hard when she sang '_My Headband_.' Naturally, Rachel got mad at him. She threatened that he should stop laughing right away, or else, she would send _**that**_ picture to Santana.

Finn pretended to not understand what she was getting at. So Rachel grabbed her cell phone from the night table, showing him the screen where the picture of him wearing Lady Gaga costume made of multiple red shower curtains was popped up, which she had successfully made Kurt forward the picture to her in exchang for introducing the costume designer of _Kinky Boots_ to him a week before.

Horrified Finn attempted to take her cell phone away from her hand, preventing her from forwarding Santana of all people who would highly blackmail him for something she wanted to get from him. Rachel, of course, withstood, jumping out of the bed into the living room.

They ended up playing tag around Rachel's then apartment, completely oblivious to them in their birthday suits. Being a footballer as he used to be, Finn wound up the game by tackling her onto the couch, pleading with her to never send the picture to Santana, saying that he was going to do whatever Rachel wanted instead.

That was the first time for Rachel to hear his singing voice other than when hearing him humming in the shower. It was the famous Simon and Garfunkel's '_Bridge Over Troubled Water_,' which his mother Carole used to sing for him as a lullaby.

While Finn enveloped the two overlapped bodies on the couch with the blanket, Rachel, on top of his large body, rested her head onto his chest, merely listening to his singing, accompanied with his heart beats. She felt his soft, warm, husky voice indistinctly piercing from the top of her head to the tip of her toes.

Finn once had said that her singing never failed to touch something in him. She thought that his singing had the exact same effect on her.

Sure, she knew so many professional singers on Broadway and they were very talented and great at conveying their emotions as much as she was. She had been lulled to sleep by her dads' singing when she was a little too. But Finn's singing voice was totally completely different from that too.

For the first time in her life, she experienced through her whole body what did mean two people connected deeply on a very intimate personal level. She felt like as if there was some language nobody but two people could understand.

Throughout her whole life, she had always been looking for where she belonged. She found one. The One. Finally.

She was, however, scared at the same time. They had just reconciled and officially started to date after Brody fiasco and Jesse stunt.

Now, Rachel regretted. Regretted not telling Finn how she had felt at that time. In an unconscious way, the melodies of his lullaby escaped from her shaky lips. She bit her bottom lip when she found herself starting singing, her eyes watering already.

But she was not going to shed tears, ever. Not now. She was definitely not going to show her weakness to _them_. She had to be strong, particularly in times like now.

Her knuckled were turning white, gripping her bobby pins much more tightly. She squeezed her eyes shut, repeatedly telling herself that she would be fine, Finn would come to rescue her.

She could do this when the time came.

* * *

"Puck! Do something!" Finn yelled irritably from the back seat.

Though he managed to calm his dog down as the car was getting closer to the place where Biff McIntosh (and Rachel… and Sugar too?) was allegedly in, he was not able to stop his restless right leg. His mohawked friend and his crop haired partner didn't seem to take any actions other than a couple of knocks on the door, and checking every apartment in the building.

It had been already thirty minutes since they had pulled the unmarked police car over a couple of cars away from the questionable apartment building. Adding up to the long stretch of the time he had had to wait for Puck and his buddy picking him and Rusty up at the corner of 7th Av. and W 18th St., it had been almost an hour.

An hour! Sixty. Fucking. Minutes!

"Dude, take a chill pill," Puck sighed as he turned his upper body toward the back seat. "I told you, we can't break down the door without a search warrant."

According to Puck, the police found that the apartment building used to be in the name of Al Motta's wife and a bank had seized the property about a half year before. Each apartment in the foreclosed building subsequently had been auctioned and the semi-basement apartment was now someone else's property.

That was to say, Puck and his partner Spencer couldn't break into the apartment in the absence of clear evidence of which Biff McIntosh illegally occupied the place or something like that, or unless the person who had made a successful bid allowed them to. Having gotten a warrant for Biff McIntosh's arrest with forgery of documents didn't justify breaking down other people's house.

With that being said, Finn had to wait for the police to get through to the apartment owner.

But he couldn't help it.

He couldn't just wait in the car without doing anything.

So, he flew out of the car and rushed toward the apartment, defying his best friend.

"Huds!" Puck yelled, storming out of the car as well hastily chasing his giant friend before narrowly grabbing one of the sleeves of Finn's quilted down coat.

"I don't care if you cop me breaking in," Finn spat out as he violently shook Puck's hand off. "What if Biff really killed Sugar Applebee? What if he noticed Rachel suspected it? What if he employed violence on Rachel?" He cried out as he literally dragged the Mohawk's body in the apartment's direction.

"We're not just waiting here for nothing," Puck said, carefully trying not to raise his voice. "We've already require the bank to contact the owner," he reminded him, still clasping Finn's sleeve tightly, before turning his head toward the car, jerking his chin up to beckon Spencer to join him.

At the very moment that Spencer got out of the car, the other unmarked car pulled over nearby the place where Puck and Finn were standing.

"Yo, Puck!" A big African American guy emerged out of the car, hanging a key between his fingers, approaching them, his putative partner in tow.

Finn came to a halt before whirling around to intently look at the guy who was handing the key out to Puck, whispering something in his ear. "So? Is that the apartment key, right? Tell me we can go into the apartment!"

"Yep, the bank reached for the owner and we're cleared to do that," Puck nodded, taking the key from the big guy. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," he stopped his friend by his wrist as Finn was about to run off toward the apartment again. "We'll take care of this."

"But–"

"No buts, Finessa," Puck cut him off. "You are not a cop. Not only do you not have anything for a domiciliary search, but aren't armed as well. You just wait here. You can come in only when we allow, or else, you'll be dead. Got it?" Puck said with a tone of threatening.

Finn knew that this Puck was not his usual vulgar friend here anymore. There was absolutely no room to discuss. He let out a deep sigh. "Fine," he reluctantly complied before seeing the four police officers quietly walking over to the apartment door.

All he could do was just sit down on the curb, hoping that they found his soon-to-be his fiancée in one piece in there.

* * *

Fuck!

Fuck, fuck, fuck, _FUUUUUUCK!_

Finn yelled at his best friend as him and the other detectives found the apartment completely deserted before starting to pace around in the empty apartment.

"Finn, clam down!" Puck stretched his arm toward him, trying to quiet his mind.

"Calm down? You tell me to calm down right now?" Finn spat out, shaking his hand off violently. "You fucking wasted time just waiting! How the fuck could you tell me to calm down!" His voice couldn't be loud more. Frustrated, he walked over to one of the walls and punched it with his fits. He didn't care how painful it was. Where was his Rachel? He had to find his Rachel, he needed to make sure she was safe, like, fucking. Right. Now!

"Puck!" Spencer called out, returning to the apartment. "We've got information that Biff accessed his wife's bank account about ten minutes ago," he informed. "And the tracking system tells us where he might be."

"Alright, let's get out of here," Puck grabbed Finn by the collar to drag him out of the apartment, leaving the other two who had to wait for the forensics people to come.

Once they got in the police car, Spencer, driving the car, continued providing the information. "It can't tell where exactly he is. All we know that he might be close to your apartment. So we're gonna check his former apartment first."

As Spencer finished, Finn pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and called Kurt to ask whether or not he noticed or heard that someone entered the next door. Much to his disappointment, Kurt had been watching _The Rocky Horror Picture Show_ and _Phantom of the Paradise_ with Elliott and hadn't noticed or heard anything.

While Finn talked to Kurt, Puck answered his own cell phone. After Finn hung up in disappointment, his ears perked up, hearing a miffed voice from the other end of the Mohawk's phone. He gripped one of the headrests with his balled hand, not able to breathe correctly.

And soon as Puck hung up the phone, he got eager to find out what his friend had gotten from the call. "What was it? Let me know what you've gotten!"

"A girl, putatively Sugar Motta, I mean, Sugar McIntosh rented a Ford Focus from Hertz in East Village two hours ago. If we could find the vehicle in the basement lot, they'd likely be in their former apartment. Do you happen to know that Biff had a car when he lived there? Cause your apartment building's installed a technical gate, right?"

Finn tried to recall the conversation he had had with him over the dinner. "Yeah, yeah, he should have one," he nodded to himself, "I remember he's said that he was going to camp in Wild Wood or somewhere."

"But that's not probative," Puck responded with a sigh. "Well, we're gonna ask the doorman anyway," he said, getting out of the car after the younger detective pulled over one block away from the building. "Alright, Huds. You've got to go home."

"But–"

Puck held his hands up for Finn not to interrupt. "No, you're not coming with us," he said with a stern face before instructed his buddy to get a remote control device and the apartment key from the doorman to examine the parking lot.

Finn opened his mouth, but soon he closed it, giving up against his friend. Letting out a deep sigh, he plodded wearily along to his apartment, carrying the dog carrier, plumping down his shoulders.

* * *

_Bam!_

_Biff! Biff! Blam! Bam!_

Finn flung his front door open and flew out of his apartment as he heard the sounds of someone, some people grappling vehemently in the next door. He had been holding his breath, pressing his one eye to the peephole to see how things were going, even though he couldn't see anything.

He rushed to the former McIntosh's apartment door before he banged its door open. His heart violently pounded. He believed that he was going to throw up at any minute.

"_Rachel!_"

Finn cried out as he entered the apartment, he saw his best friend detective straddling on the back of Biff McIntosh.

Puck, one of whose eyes already got swollen, turned his head around to see his friend's face turning paler. "We've got them, Huds!" He smirked triumphantly before resuming his handcuffing the guy who was lying down on the floor.

That was definitely not what Finn had been dying to hear. All he needed to know was where his girlfriend was, whether she was safe or not.

"_Where is my Rachel? Is she okay?_" Finn hissed with desperation, restlessly looking around the apartment, but Rachel was nowhere to be found. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Spencer made Sugar Motta's hands behind the back of her and placed the cuffs on her wrists.

Puck gestured Spencer to take her out of the apartment before rummaging into every pocket of Biff's outfits to find the thing he needed. "She's not here, Huddy!" He yelled in the direction Finn was heading into. When he found a tiny key in the inner pocket of Biff's jacket, he shouted again. "Finn! I told you she's not here! We gotta go to the rooftop!"

"W-what?" Finn poked his head through the bedroom door. He plastered a shocked expression on his face. "What the fuck do you mean by that? The rooftop? Why the hell do we have to be there? Please tell me she is safe!"

"Relax, Finn. She's okay, I guess" he said.

"You guess? _YOU GUESS?_" Finn wanted to cry.

"Listen," Puck sighed dropping his head before looking up at Finn again, showing him the tiny key between his fingers. "The dude cooped her up in a suitcase and left it on the–"

Before Puck could finish, Finn snatched the key from the mohawked friend's hand.

"_Finn!_"

In defiance of his best friend, Finn ran off to the elevator foyer and banged his fist to the lift button violently and repeatedly. But no such luck. The elevators seemed to decide to be against him. Fuck! He couldn't wait any more seconds. He rushed to the emergency stairs, determined to climb ten more stories to find his Rachel alive safe.

At one more story left, Finn placed his hands on his knees to catch his breath. He seriously needed to think about going to a gym regularly as Rachel had kept telling him. He, however, soon shook the thought off. He had no time to think about that kind of stuff right now.

"_Finn!_"

He heard the footsteps and the yelling voice from downstairs again. They were Puck's. He was running up after him. Still ignoring Puck, Finn resumed the task at hand.

As he finally got to the door onto the rooftop, he pushed the door roughly. He stepped onto the rooftop, looking over the place. A large old silver Zero Halliburton was at one of the rooftop corners by the guard railings.

"Oh God!" Finn cried before rushing in the direction. He crouched down in an attempt to thrust the key into the lock. But the more haste, the more violently his hands were shaking.

_Fuck! Damn it! Stop shaking, my stupid hands!_

He took a deep breath and tried the lock once again. Yet, his body seemed against him. His hands were still shaking, and his eyes were dimming with tears.

Puck, finally caught up with Finn, silently bent down beside him, placing his hand on his. "Let me," he offered as he took the key from his hand.

Then he injected the key into the lock and–

"UUUGGGHHHHH!"

Puck fell on the backside by the shock of a sharp pain as he opened the suitcase. He grabbed his hand with the other to protect, making a wry face. "What the fuck?" He hissed as he eyes Rachel who was sporting a frightened look in fear on her face and on-guard position with hin and tiny black colored something in her hand.

Plastering a blank face, not sure what had just happened, Finn just stared at his girlfriend face for a moment. Then he managed to let out words. "R-Rach, babe?"

Rachel blinked a couple of times before slowly turning her head to look at her boyfriend's beautiful face. "Finn," her voice was barely audible.

After they stared at each other for more seconds, Rachel burst into tears trickling down her cheeks. She desperately stretched her arms toward Finn and clung to his neck, burying her face in it. Now she began to sob helplessly.

"Baby, it's okay, you're safe now. It's over," Finn enveloped her little body with his long arms, soothing the back of her up and down. "Shhhh, it's okay, it's okay," he reassured her repeatedly.

"I'm sorry, Finn, I'm sorry. I-I, th-thought, I thought–" Rachel opened her mouth between sobbing, but she couldn't finish her sentence since she had a lot of things to say to her boyfriend.

"You don't have to apologize anything, baby, it's okay, it's okay," Finn kept rubbing the back of Rachel to calm her down. "I'm not gonna let you evanish alone," he tilted his head a little so that he could press his lips to the side of her hair. "Nobody can steal my girl's life from me. You know? We'll be living together for a long time, like, forever. And, and, when the time comes, we'll kick the bucket together, you know? Like, like, your favorite movie."

"I thought you didn't like the movie," Rachel whispered with her tears.

"I don't," Finn agreed. He didn't like _The Notebook_ because, one, the male leading character had the same name as his mohawked best friend did, two, Rachel had temporarily been obsessed with Ryan Gosling claiming he was the sexiest actor in the world, three, come on, it was a chick flick, what kind of guy loved chick flicks? "But I like what they had and we can be them. I don't want to live my life without you, ever."

Rachel reluctantly pulled herself away from Finn before looking into his warm amber eyes for a moment. "Are you telling me that I would become demented and you'd suffer from a heart disease? Or are you asking–"

"Rachel," Finn cut off, "I'll be honored if you let me love you forever," he blurted out. "I-I was going to propose to you today, I swear I was, 'cause I've already gotten you a ring, which I don't carry right now. But, um, you have to believe me that I was gonna. I-I can prove that," he rambled, putting his hand into the inner pocket to find his glasses case, before taking Rachel's flower ring from it. "See?" he slipped the ring into her ring finger, "I was the one to put this on your left hand, also to take it from the bathroom for the engagement ring sh–"

Rachel crushed her lips onto his before Finn could finish.

Finn immediately responded to her passionate kiss. Her lips tasted the combination of her salty tears and the residue of her strawberry lip gross. Gosh, he missed her pouty lips and her taste. It hadn't been half a day since he had kissed her. But he missed them already.

When they finally parted from each other's lips to catch their breaths, Finn opened his mouth again. "I'm sorry, Rach, I didn't want to do it this way, I don't think it's what you wanted to be proposed, but–"

Rachel placed her forefinger onto his swollen lips. "No, it's perfect," she said softly, tracing his lips then his freckles with the finger. "I love so so much, Finn."

"I love you too, Rach, more than anything," Finn said back to her, cradling her face, wiping her tears falling on her cheeks with his thumbs. Then he leaned his face toward hers and resumed what they had been doing.

"Ahem."

Rachel and Finn abruptly stopped their mouths and tongues from moving by the noise the forgotten presence made. They slowly turned their heads around to see the Mohawk. Finn gave him sheepish smiles.

"Look, Noah!" Rachel called out chirpily, holding her left hand up in the air to let him see her third finger which Finn had put the flower ring on instead of the real engagement ring. "I'm engaged!"

"So I've heard," Puck rolled his eyes, but not bothering to hide his smile around his lips. "But I have to take you to the hospital, you know, I think you need to be put some stitches in that cut," he nodded toward her forehead. "And I bet you're dehydrated too. I've already phoned for an ambulance."

As in on cue, some paramedics rushed onto the rooftop with a stretcher.

Rachel tried to rise herself, getting out of the suitcase, but staggered due to the long time she had been lying down. "I've got you," Finn immediately caught her before the paramedics took his place.

Once they got into the ambulance, the stress she had been suffering all day took its toll on Rachel. Her eyelids felt like they were going to stick shut.

"Finn?" Rachel managed to speak.

"Yeah?" Finn squeezed her hand with his own.

"Your stomach is growling. You have to eat something," Rachel blurted out, beginning into a slumber. "And I have to pee." But her exhaustion got the better of her and she completely closed her eyes.

Finn chuckled, seeing her peaceful and beautiful face. _God, I love this woman._ He murmured to himself. Yes, his stomach was growling loudly because he had totally forgotten feeding himself from the morning. But he didn't care. He didn't care about food right now.

Because he'd got Rachel right here.

His Rachel.

The woman he loved, the women who cared his appetite at this rate, the woman who had accepted his proposal without a ring, saying it was perfect (though he was going to do the proposal over again later).

Finn rubbed the flower ring on the third finger of her left hand gently with his thumb, a smile creeping to his lips.

Finally having freed himself from the strain of the day, Finn rested his head onto Rachel's hand and dozed off, joining his fiancée in sleeping in the ambulance.

* * *

**A/N: One more chapter!**

**Please review :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Okay, this is the last chapter! Though my English is not good, I really enjoyed writing this story. It was fun. I hope you enjoyed reading it too! I really appreciate you guys have been taking your precious time for reading my story and sending the responses!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee and its characters, ****and any resemblance to real persons or organizations is purely coincidental.**

* * *

**Ten days later (Wednesday, December 9)**

Rachel sighed deeply as she peeled a square piece of gauze from her hairline, looking at her own face in the mirror.

She had removed the four stitches on her forehead five days before. Deep inside of her, she still had enough trouble seeing herself as to how _not_ pretty she looked, and now this scar added a new insecurity to it.

Rachel plumped down her shoulders, dropping her head to her chest, her hands hooking on the edge of the sink.

"Rach? What's wrong?"

Rachel snapped her head to see her fiancé standing in the bathroom doorway. "Finn," she said, giving him a tight smile. "What are you doing here? You were supposed to leave for work."

"Now who's the one not listening to what her partner is saying?" Finn chuckled, walking over to stand behind her, before wrapping his arms around her waist. "I told you that I was gonna get the day off so that I could come with you to the hospital," he reminded her, resting his chin on the top of her head.

Finn was right. Recently she'd tended to be absentminded, specifically after McIntosh incident.

It had been hectic for her to return to her normal life, although she had been discharged from the hospital the next day and she could take time off from work (the strike was called off a few days after she had been admitted in the hospital). Not only did she have to see her doctor regularly, but also she still had to be called into question by the police.

On top of that, tons of reporters and paparazzi followed her everywhere. Sure, she loved to become the center of attention. She admitted. Yet, this was most certainly not what she wanted. Though, thanks to Kurt, he took a role as her spokesman. And he was handling the situation well, claiming that he loved getting attention as much as she did.

Under normal circumstances, Rachel must have been ecstatic since Finn had proposed to her. Yet, she got disappointed in herself whenever she looked at herself in the mirror.

"The doctor said that the scar might remain even after the wound heals," Rachel said looking at his reflection in the mirror. "Well, I had it coming though," she dropped her head down again.

"Hey, hey," Finn turned her body around to face him, placing his hands on her shoulder before slightly bending down to get to the same eye level, lifting her face, placing his hand beneath her chin. "You might have been a bit reckless, but they could've succeeded in getting away with their crime. Then the police would've disgraced themselves. They owe it all to you, babe, you should be proud of yourself," he said before giving her a chaste kiss on her lips.

"But Rusty shouldn't have gotten injured if I didn't push the door open," Rachel bit her bottom lips.

"He's fine, he's recovering well," Finn caressed one of her cheeks with a thumb. "You could add one more chapter to your autobiography," he joked to cheer her up.

"Of course I will," Rachel said with a straight face before giggling. "I'll be definitely writing about it for my autobiography. And of course about your dramatic and romantic proposal too," she nodded to herself.

"Nah, that was not romantic," Finn made a face. "And that was not official either. Besides, you didn't say yes."

"Did I not?" Rachel widened her eyes. "I thought I did."

"No, you didn't," Finn pinched her nose playfully with his fingers.

Rachel scrunched her nose before straightening up herself. "Well, in that case, I'll say it if you still want to marry me. But, just so you know, you didn't say 'marry me,' or 'be my wife' either."

"Really? Then I–, wait," Finn frowned. "What do you mean, 'if I still want to marry you'? Of course, I want to marry you."

"Even if the scar remains?" Rachel bit her bottom lip.

"Baby, you're still beautiful and hot as hell with or without scars," Finn said, depositing her on the bathroom counter, standing between her legs. "And this scar?" he touched her forehand, carefully avoiding the injury spot she had. "It'll always remind me how brave you are, how much I love you, and how we got engaged," he cradled her head in his both hands and pressed his lips firmly on hers.

Rachel immediately wrapped her arms around his torso and whispered against his lips. "You always know how to make me feel better, Finn Hudson."

"You do the same thing to me too, Rachel Berry," Finn once again gave her a chaste kiss on her lips.

"Then I'm gonna show you how much _I_ love you, like right now," Rachel dropped her gaze to the bottom half of his body before looking up at him again. "Lose your pants," she ordered.

Finn arched his eyebrow. But he didn't have to be told twice. He eagerly pushed his gray sweats down, before examining her eyes expectantly.

Rachel slid herself from the bathroom counter, and pushed his body until his back hit on the wall. Never averting her eyes away from his, she hooked her fingers on the waistband of his boxers. And slowly, seductively she pulled his growing hardness out, kneeling down on the floor.

Finn closed his eye, feeling his beautiful fiancée's warm tiny hand giving him tender ministrations. He hissed with pleasure when her tongue began to swirl around his tip.

He flared his nostrils enraptured as she nuzzled his tip back and forward against the inside of her cheek.

And he came to aware that something superior to the euphoria existed in this planet when she deep-throated him and moved the muscle of the back of her throat.

"Aaaahhhhh," a loud moan slipped from Finn's mouth. He supported his own body pressing his palms against the wall of the bathroom, or else, he believed he would collapse due to his weakened knees.

"Holy shit!" he hissed, opening his eyes before looking down at his fiancée keeping whatever she was doing between his legs. "W-what… was… th-that?" he panted.

"Mmm-mmm-m-mmm-mm?"

"Huh? No! I-I mean… y-yes," Finn breathed, threading his fingers through her hair. "I, ahhh, I like… it. I _love_ it. Don't… don't stop, mmm… keep going, baby," he managed to speak before throwing his head back, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Mm-mmmm. Mm-mm-m-mmm."

"W-what?" surprised, Finn shot his head and looked down at her again. "Y-you… ahh, p-prac…ticing? W-when… aahhh… I mean… mmm… where… ahhh… w-with who…m?"

"Mmm. Mm-mmmm-m-mm, mm-mmm-mmmm."

Fuck! Rachel was practicing doing this with a dildo which Santana had given to her? Now she had a dildo? Not only the combination of the most pleasurable sensation that his tip was hitting on her back throat and the vibration of her humming, but also the image of her practicing bj with a dildo made him enough painful hard.

"Rach… babe," Finn reluctantly stopped her head from bobbing, "Much as I don't want you to stop, but I'm not gonna last if you keep doing it," he breathed heavily, helping her to stand up on her feet. "Now it's time for me to return a favor."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Rachel hopped herself onto his large body, letting him carry her into the bedroom. "I'll be fetching some whipped cream if you want?" she whispered in his ear.

Finally! Finn mentally fist-pumped. He put her down on the floor and slapped her ass. "Make it quick, babe. I'm kinda embarrassed," he pointed to his hardness.

"It's not embarrassing," Rachel said over her shoulder, licking her lips. "Why don't you look into the second drawer from the bottom while I'm fetching whipped cream?" she winked at him to stall his boner.

Then she trotted out of the bedroom.

* * *

Three orgasms for each of them, tons of whipped cream (to Finn's liking) and a visit to the doctor later, Finn drove off the car which he had borrowed from Burt toward the north.

"Where are we going?" Rachel asked, buckling up.

"Novo-Diveevo," Finn simply responded.

"Oh," Rachel spread her fingers on her lap. "That's why you wanted to take them with us too?" she gestured to the backseat where the two pet carriers occupied.

Finn nodded, his eyes still on the road. "It's not May, but it's still 9th, you know."

This time was Rachel's turn to nod.

After enough minutes of comfortable silence, Finn opened his mouth again. "Did I tell you that Ms. Owen got fired and moved out to Seattle?"

Rachel shook her head. "No, you didn't. When?"

"Two days ago. Jake and his partner, uh, Ryder? I guess that's his name. Anyway," he cleared his throat, "they raided her house a week ago, you know, as a part of the investigation into Biff's case, and guess what? There were candid pictures of you and me pinning all over the wall, which she's been taking from this September," he shuddered, picturing the image in his head. "On top of that, they found some files on her computer, which archived not only our daily routine but our friends and families' phone numbers, addresses and stuff."

Rachel dropped her jaw open while listening to the story Finn was telling.

"I know right?" glancing at Rachel, Finn read her mind. "They helped me to report it to Beiste, so she decided to send her away."

"Don't you think you should be getting restraining order or something?"

"I don't know, Rach. She kinda played a part to find you and she's gone to the other side of the continent now, so," Finn shrugged.

He had a point. If Penelope didn't follow her that day, it might have been more difficult for him and the police to find her, not that she wanted to think that the woman saved her life though. It was enough for the school nurse to be forced to move out to the opposite coast.

"You're too nice, but," Rachel sighed before nodding nonetheless, "if you don't feel harassed anymore, then I'll leave it up to you."

Finn appreciatively nodded at Rachel, squeezing her hand.

* * *

After an almost two-hour drive, they arrived at the graveyard.

Once they got to the Mrs. Weston's tombstone, Finn put the pet carriers down and prepared the blanket on the grass ground next to the stone while Rachel was offering the flowers which they had bought on the way to Novo-Diveevo.

Finn sat on the blanket before patting the empty spot next to him. As Rachel placed herself next to him, he draped another blanket over her shoulders to not make her freezing from the cold weather.

"Are you alright?" Rachel frowned as she saw Finn getting nervous for some reason. "Aren't you freezing? Why don't you join me here?" she said, opening her blanket.

"No, it's not that, but thanks," Finn complied, depositing her in front of him between his legs, tucking themselves in the blanket. "Okay," he took a deep breath, "uh, I have something to talk to you about, but I want you to promise me that you won't say a word until I'm done. I know that's sort of hard for you, so I need you to promise me."

Rachel tilted her head toward her fiancé and nodded. "I promise."

"Um," Finn let out a breath, "I was going to take you to Bronx Zoo, which I planned for a proposal that day, re-creating the date in April last year?" Finn started. "Because…" he took a pause, "do you remember the kid who ruined your skirt on the way back home from the zoo?"

"Yeah, I remember," Rachel softly laughed, recalling that she had almost freaked out seeing her favorite pale blue skirt ruined.

_Some loud __shrieks dragged Finn out of his nap. He blinked a couple of times before looking around to figure out what was going on in a subway vehicle. He glanced down at his girlfriend who was still sleeping leaning against his shoulder in spite of the bustle of the children who seemed to be on the way home from the zoo as well._

_Why did he figure it out? Because…_

_Oh shit!_

_Finn thought as he looked down at her skirt, which was drawn a reticulated giraffe's head and a part of its long neck with crayons__ by a boy next to Rachel. Rachel was gonna freak out when she woke up!_

_A few seconds later, Rachel's eyes fluttered open due to another boy nudging the aforementioned boy's arm roughly. She didn't look like she noticed anything at first. However, as he had predicted, she looked around and shifted her gaze to her lap, she gasped with a shock, starting to shake her body, which he could easily imagine what the reason was._

"_Rach…" Finn tried to not let her get panicked, soothing her arm up and down. But when he was about to continue to speak, the kids started to make a mock of the boy next to Rachel._

"_You're stupid!"_

"_Don't you know how to draw?"_

"_When you're told to draw a giraffe, draw its neck. Within a paper. It's common sense! Dumbass!"_

"_Freak! Freak! Freak!"_

_The boy was on the verge of tears as the big chorus began, not sure where he was wrong, why he had to be tormented._

_When Finn was about to stop the chorus—God! How could the other adults ignore this?—Rachel placed her hand on the boy's trying her best not to freak out at the fact that the boy had just destroyed her favorite skirt, or he thought she might try not to get livid at the other cruel kids. "You're not a freak, uh, what's your name?"_

"_Ben," the boy whispered with a shaky breath._

"_Ben, you're not a freak, okay? You're not stupid or dumbass either," Rachel continued. "I guess you wanted to draw giraffe's unique pattern on its body, because every giraffe has its own pattern like fingerprints of human beings, right?"_

_Ben just nodded, not bothering to look up at her._

"_Right. Then you wanted to represent how long of neck giraffe has? That's why you drew its neck outside of the paper?"_

_Ben the boy finally shifted his gaze to her, his eyes still watering but a slight hint of twinkling in them._

"_That means you're different from the others, Ben. And that means you're special. You might be a great painter someday. Or you can be whatever you want to be. I know you can because I've been called a freak, different, among other harsh words in high school, but I'm now a star on Broadway!"_

_Amazed at his girlfriend, but Finn chuckled at the last part of her words._

"_What's Broadway?" Ben asked with a frown._

"_Alright, Ben. You're a very smart boy, but there's still something left for you to be educated," Rachel huffed as she fished her Sharpie and small notepad from her purse before writing her phone number and putting a gold star sticker beside her name. "You should give this paper to your parents and tell them to ring me. Then you and your parents can come see my show whenever you want, okay?"_

_Ben tilted his head, still not figuring out as to what Broadway was and what Rachel meant by her show, but took the piece of paper from her hand and nodded nonetheless._

"I think that was the first time that I wanted to be with you for a very long time and have kids with you," Finn exhaled deeply, releasing his nervousness. "Then when you said, uh, '_People die at the season their favorite flowers bloom,_' is that what you said? After Mrs. Weston's funeral?" He felt Rachel's nods against his chest. "See? I listen to what you're saying, don't I?" He felt a light slap on his arm.

"Anyway," he cleared his throat, "when you said that, you looked breathtaking. Not that I think you don't look beautiful other days," he quickly added. He heard her giggling, so he pressed his lips to the side of her hair.

Then Finn stood up pulling out of the velvet box from the back pocket before kneeling down on one knee in front of Rachel.

"Your beauty both inside and out took my breath away at those moments and I thought I wanted to wake up next to you every morning for the rest of my life. Even when we fight, I don't want to be without you, Rachel."

_Finn had been agony for a while. Some monster parents poked their asses into his business again. Why couldn't they understand there were some kids who were not good at certain instruments but purely loved music and enjoy playing. He was really exhausted. All he wanted to do was to sleep in his (their) bed and forget that they had blamed him and the unskilled kids for the lack of attention to their own kids (not that he admitted that he hadn't paid enough attention to them). On top of that, they treated him as if he was a failure as a teacher. Damn it! The kids were still ten or eleven years old for fuck's sake! And he was trying his best!_

_After he had returned from the dog park, he half-assed tidying-up in the living room and kitchen, then threw himself onto the bed._

_About half an hour later, Rachel finally got home after a long hard rehearsal of _Wicked_ which she just had gotten a part from. When she walked into the living room, she saw Finn's clothes scattered everywhere and the dog carrier and the Rusty's toy bag were thrown onto the sofa. The kitchen was messed with an empty pizza box, crumpled paper napkins and some of beer bottles. She massaged her temple with her forefinger._

_It had been over three months since they had officially moved in together in the former Mrs. Weston's apartment. It was different from the days Finn had stayed overnight at her apartment to say the least._

_Sure, Finn had piled his clothes up in the living room or bedroom in her former apartment. But at least he hadn't messed up the entire apartment because it had been not his. He had used her apartment __with diffidence, like he had never left the toilet cover upright. But he seemed to forget those things once they moved in together._

_Living together__ required compromise._

_But not today. For her._

"_Finn!" Rachel yelled, walking into the bedroom, holding his clothes in her arms. "Please put these clothes into the laundry box if it's necessary or at least put them into one place. And when you put them into it, you should roll them up properly because if not they crease easily. And–"_

"_Would you stop?" Finn growled, cutting her off. "I can put them whenever I want, 'cause this is my place as much as yours too!"_

"_I'm only asking you to do a simple task! I don't need any extra work when I get home tired!" Rachel raised her voice._

"_Oh, I'm sorry I don't have a job which wears me out enough like yours!" Finn snapped._

"_I didn't mean like that, Finn!" Rachel huffed, his hands on her hips. "You know that! What's your problem anyway?"_

"_What's my problem?" Finn rubbed his face tiredly before sitting up on the bed. "The problem is that there are those who don't get everyone is not good enough, or talented enough, Rachel!"_

"_What are you talking about?" Rachel frowned. "If you're talking about your kids, I'm sure you can handle them very well."_

"_I don't want to talk about it right now," Finn honestly wanted to just sleep. "I'm beat."_

"_Can you just talk to me please?" Rachel approached the bedside. "Don't let the sun go down upon whatever things bugging you," she insisted._

_Finn groaned. "I said I don't want to talk about it, alright? I need my sleep. Why can't you leave me alone?"_

"_But–"_

"_Leave. Me. Fucking. Alone!"_

_Rachel widened her eyes. "We promised each other that we won't go to bed angry. I don't want to go to bed like this. How am I supposed to do if you are like that?" she shot back._

"_So you're telling me to get out of the bed and sleep on the couch or in the guestroom?" Finn glared at her._

"_No, I'm not! I'm just saying you can just talk to me. It might make you feel better," Rachel defended._

"_God, why don't you shut your mouth for once in your life?" Finn jumped out of the bed, grabbed his pillow. "Didn't you listen to what I said? I. Don't. Want. To. Talk. About. It!" With that, he was about to get out of the bedroom._

_Rachel chased him and grabbed the hem of his shirt. "Then tell me why you don't wanna talk? And I didn't mean you should sleep on the couch or elsewhere! Don't leave me like that!"_

"_Are you aware how annoying you can be?" Finn shrugged her hand off of him. "You don't get it, you just don't get," he murmured as he made a beeline for the guest room._

"_What's that supposed to mean? I don't get what exactly?" Rachel demanded, trying to stop him from walking away._

_Finn loudly groaned and held his hands up in the air. "You won't understand how 'not good enough' or 'not talented' people feel! You won't understand how to deal with 'special' kids' parents butting in other kid's business 'cause you're working with only talented people," with that, Finn shut the door roughly, deep inside of him knowing he was taking it out on her._

_As for Rachel, she froze in front of the door taken aback. Yes, she got a bit noisy when he clearly looked exhausted. She might have taken it out on him when she was exhausted too._

_But still._

_Finn of all people who __**knew**__ that she had been tormented by bullies, being told that she was nothing but her voice (sometimes even her strength had been rejected). That was why she had been so determined to prove they were wrong and work hard. Also, it had taken her a while to accept herself, the way she was, the way she looked—Finn was the one to make her feel that way, wasn't he?_

"_How could you," Rachel whispered at first before raising her voice. "How could you say that to me!" she yelled at the closed door. "You __**know**__ that I've been told that I was not good enough too! And you're the one to make me feel good enough, Finn, make me feel special! Whatever your problem is, I'm sure you can find a way out. Because I __**know**__ that you're a great teacher, seeing the good in your kids. But I won't get what your problem is if you're not talking to me. So don't take it out on me! I know that I can be annoying, I __**am**__ annoying, and if I pushed you too much, then I'm sorry for my part."_

_With that, Rachel walked away from the door into the kitchen to clean the mess up, trying not to fall the tears._

"I was being a jerk," Finn said, recalling he had returned to their bedroom a couple hours later to tell her how sorry he had been. When Rachel was about to open her mouth, he shook his head for her to keep her word that she wouldn't say a word until he was done, because he knew what she wanted to say—he could easily read her mind like a book that she would repeat the same thing as she had told him that night (she had been bossy and would tell him how great he was as a person, as a teacher).

"But you know what? You _are_ the one to make me feel good enough, make me feel special, Rachel. So I will try my best to remind you every single day for the rest of your life how important you are to me, how special you are to me," Finn took a pause for a second, opening the velvet box. "Rachel Barbra Berry, will you marry me?"

Rachel sucked in a breath, stunned at every single word Finn had conveyed. Her eyes were already clouded by large drops of tears and couldn't see his face clearly. A few moments later, she finally managed to let out the most significant word in her life.

"Yes."

Finn took the engagement ring out of the box to replace the flower ring with it.

As soon as he put the flower ring in the box, Rachel threw herself into his large frame and embraced him, embraced the moment.

"Thank you, Finn," Rachel whispered.

"For what?"

"For coming into my life."

"You too, Rach," still holding her tight, Finn kissed her hair repeatedly. "And I have to thank Mrs. Weston as well. That's why I wanted to come here. You know? She kinda led me to you."

"True," Rachel nodded. "She would've loved you if she was still alive."

"I hope so, Rach, I hope so."

They stayed like that for a while before heading for their home.

* * *

**More nine days after (Friday, December 18), Rachel's birthday party**

"So?" Kurt encouraged the Mohawk to continue. "Why did Sugar Applebee visit her half-sibling at the same night Rachel and Finn had a dinner with them?"

Biff McIntosh was indicted for murder of Sugar Applebee, attempted murder of Rachel, housebreaking, animal cruelty, and forgery of documents while his wife for preparation for murder and providing aid to murder, though Biff was appealing that he had not intended to kill Ms. Applebee but his wife forced him to do.

Puck rubbed his Mohawk, leaning forward on the table. "According to Sugar McIntosh's say, Applebee was pressed for money because of her health issue and wanted to borrow some from her for surgery."

"Oh, that's why Ms. Applebee's Irish boyfriend," Rachel chimed in. "Um, what's his name?"

"Rory Flanagan," Puck reminded her.

"Yeah, Rory came all the way to the City?" Rachel finished.

"More or less," Puck nodded. "Anyway, Sugar McIntosh was going to dismiss her off, because you know, she was already broke at that time. But before she could do that, Applebee accidentally broke her neck in the dead of night by the falling shelf or something like–"

"I knew it! The sounds I heard that night were the ones Biff McIntosh carried her body out of the apartment, right?" Rachel cried before turning her head toward her fiancé, "You might have not heard the strange sounds coming from our front door, but I did! The sounds where it all began!" she turned to look at the Mohawk triumphantly. "Don't you think I could be a competent detective?"

Puck rolled his eyes, Finn joining his best friend.

"Rachel, don't get this sidetracked," Kurt reprimanded. "But you said that Al Motta left the trust fund to her daughter."

Puck sipped his beer, nodding. "Al Motta might have known all too well what a high roller his daughter was, though I don't think he predicted Biff would lose big bucks by a bad investment."

Puck continued to explain the situation Biff and Sugar McIntosh had been in.

When Biff and Sugar McIntosh got to be completely broke (it was six months before Applebee's visit), Mrs. McIntosh was about to turn 22 year-old, which meant that she reached the age to be free to spend the trust fund Al Motta had left.

However, there were a few conditions that Sugar McIntosh could hold it in her own hands, which the married couple had not realized until the lawyer told.

Number one was that she had to maintain the properties that Al and his wife had left.

Number two was that she had to reach the age of twenty-two.

If Sugar Motta didn't maintain the assets when she turned 22 year-old, the fund should be frozen in the next ten years or until the daughter could lead a stable life, making an honest buck. And when Mr. and Mrs. McIntosh got to know that, they were also informed that the fund would be automatically handed to Ms. Applebee only if Sugar Motta died.

"Which means, Applebee's accident was like a moth to the flame for the married couple," Artie concluded, lifting his glasses with his forefinger.

Puck nodded. "You could say that."

"Sugar Motta girl is clearly an airhead," Santana decided. "What?" she defended when the gang made a face at her. "I'm being honest. Do you think it was a great idea that she concealed the fake passport in the Irish hick's suit? I would never make that kind of basic error," she said, examining her manicured nails before shooting her head up. "God! I wish I was there, so that I could see the hobbit popping up from the suitcase and Puckerman falling on his ass!"

"Yeah, you should've taken a picture of that moment, Finn," Sam chuckled. Kurt secretly agreed with the blonde guy since he had been embarrassed with the picture of himself drunken into a stupor by his stepbrother and his mohawked friend.

"He's got caught up in something else, I mean, someone else," Mike patted Finn by the shoulder sympathetically.

"But seriously, you two should scrutinize a new inhabitant to live in the next door," heavy pregnant Tina, massaging her small back because she was past her due date.

"Is that legal?" Finn turned his head to the Mohawk.

But before Puck could respond, Rachel chimed in. "Tina's right. I don't care whether it's legal or not. In fact," she fished her pink binder from her tote before placing it on the table, "I'm one step ahead of it."

"What's that?" Finn motioned to the binder.

"I've got the information of the candidates who consider renting or buying the next door from the realtor!" Rachel proudly announced.

"Rachel! You don't–"

"Way to go, Yentl!" Santana approved, cutting Finn off. "You finally learned one or two from me."

Rachel expanded her chest before turning to face Finn. "Don't worry, Finn. The realtor's willing to cooperate with us. Besides, the other inhabitants have the same apprehension about a new one. I know they do because we assembled to talk about it this morning."

"What? You didn't tell me!" Finn accused.

"We didn't have time to talk about it today, Finn," Rachel excused. "And I'm telling you now, am I not?" she said nonchalantly.

"Let's peruse your binder, Rachel!" Tina clapped her hands, ignoring Finn's petulant manner.

"Let's see, um, Howard Bamboo… Oh! Isn't he working at your favorite deli? _Meats-N-Things_?" Rachel eyed her fiancé.

"I won't give you the information of him, Rach," Finn folded his arms across his chest.

"Fine," Rachel returned her attention to her binder.

"But can he afford?" Artie tilted his head.

"I'm sure he can," Finn murmured under his breath. He knew that Bamboo's parents were some considerable wealth.

Rachel narrowed her eyes, but continued her task at hand nonetheless. "The next," she flipped through the binder with her fingers. "Um, Sandy Ryerson? Fifty something aged man, single, his occupation is–"

"Oh, no. No, you shouldn't let him live in the next door, Rachel," Brittany cut in.

"What? Why?" Mercedes asked with a frown.

"I know this man. He used to be a photographer. But he got banned from any boys' photo shoots because of his pedophilia," Brittany informed. "He's really a creepy guy."

Every one of the gang made a face in distaste all at once.

After three more candidates, Rachel widened her eyes to find the name which she wouldn't want to hear ever in her life. "Oh Gosh! No, no, no, no."

"What's wrong?" Mercedes asked.

Finn peeked into the binger from behind of his fiancée. "Oh."

Tina and Santana peeked into it too and burst into laughter as they figured out whose name was written on the sheet of paper. "Oh my God!" Tina cried, wiping underneath her eyes with a thumb.

"You'll never run away from the JewFro, Berry," Santana couldn't help but keep laughing.

The other gang had no idea why they were laughing. "Who is this guy named Jacob Ben Israel?" Mercedes asked again. After Rachel, Tina and Santana filled her in, she firmly nodded. "Then you should eliminate him too."

"Why don't you just move to their next door, Kurt?" Quinn suggested.

"Oh, that's a good idea, I suppose," Mercedes agreed. "It's easier for ladies to hang out," she said, earning the affirmative nods from all the girls.

Finn groaned. "I don't think it's a good idea. Right, Kurt?" he threw his desperate eyes at him.

Kurt narrowed his eyes. "What? Are you saying because you don't want to embarrass yourself as to how unsophisticated your taste in fashion is in front of my nose?"

"That's why," Finn pointed out, hoping that the guys would give him their agreements. Yet, nobody seemed to want to get involved in Kurt's fashion rant.

"Kurt!" Rachel saved. "Finn is sophisticated in that department too."

"What do you mean by 'too'?" Puck chuckled. "You mean in the sack? That's not an appropriate adjective, Berry. 'Sophisticated in the sack' means boring. Not that I doubt it, though"

"I did mean his demeanors, Noah!" Rachel snapped. "Why does everything have to do with sex in your head. Oh, just so you know, maybe if you shave your stupid Mohawk, then you can see how gentle but passionate and skillful my fiancé is as a lover."

"Rachel!" Finn stopped her from ranting about their sex life.

"I sometimes really feel sorry for Quinn," Rachel murmured petulantly, earning Quinn's '_you have no idea._'

"Alright, I don't want to know how you guys are in bed," Mercedes chimed in. "What you guys perform in bed stays in your own bed, please."

"Agreed," Quinn assisted.

"Let's go dancing!" Brittany announced, clapping her hands. "Ladies?"

With that, all the girls, included Kurt and Tina (who was willing to do everything and nothing to push her baby out of her vagina), stepped into the dance floor, leaving the guys at the table.

"Alright, spill the beans," Puck nudged Finn's arm, making sure that the girls were out of earshot.

"Of what?" Finn feigned ignorance.

"You know what he means, Finn," Sam pressed.

"About ten days ago? Berry's smoking skill?" Puck said expectantly.

"Rachel doesn't smoke," Finn continued to pretend.

"Oh, come on," Artie mimicked bj motion.

When Finn was about to open his mouth to protest, Mike cut in. "Join me in ordering another rounds?"

"Sure," Finn let out a relieved sigh (Rachel would kill him if she knew his tongue had slipped) before giving Mike an appreciative smile and walking away from the table.

"Boring!" Sam yelled.

"Are you going to the bathroom together? When did you two grow vagina between your legs?" Puck added, chuckling.

Finn turned his head to see the guys at the table, giving them his middle fingers.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw his Rachel having fun with her girl's friends, dancing adorably.

At the very moment, his eyes met Rachel's. She waved a hand at him, plastering the infamous Rachel Berry's megawatt smile.

Finn waved back at her and mouthed 'I love you.'

Rachel mouthed 'I love you too,' drawing a big heart mark in front of her heart with her both forefingers, and blew a kiss at him.

So he caught it, and placed it to his chest (on the side of his heart).

Then Rachel resumed dancing with the girls.

He could easily picture in his head that their daughter was dancing around in the living room with Rachel. _Is it possible that 5A annex 5B?_ Well, he should ask the realtor later.

For now, he was going to fully enjoy their engaged period. He decided.

**The End**

* * *

**A/N: And that's it! Let me say thank all of you for reading my story again. I hope I'll see you soon.**

**Please review :)**


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